Revelations
by DragonHeartStringCore
Summary: WORK IN PROGRESS. Hermione is set a difficult but intriguing case at her job at the Ministry which leads her to discover things about herself, the future of the wizarding world and a man she never thought she'd have to see again. Set post DH, fairly canon with only minor changes ( OK so I brought Snape back from the dead.)
1. Favour

**Disclaimer: All the characters and the Harry Potter world belong to JK Rowling and I make no profit from this story.**

**Thank you so much to my Beta _Mari681 _for doing an amazing job on this chapter!**

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"Pansy for the last time, I can't help you!"

"Oh, come on Hermione, I've had this case for weeks and I haven't made any progress at all. You were the best at this and I could really use your help."

"I haven't worked in your department for almost a year now Pansy, I don't think I'd be much use at all."

"Now I know that's a lie, you got promoted to the Missing Witches and Wizards Department and it's not all that different. I'll owe you big time if you take this one for me." She wheedled, smiling sweetly.

Hermione sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of her nose. Pansy and she had become friends...well, a more accurate description would probably be two people who had previously 'strongly disliked' each other but were forced to get along because they worked together, when she first joined the Ministry. Pansy was a hard worker but often lacked the initiative to deal with some of the more complicated cases that came her way. As much as she wanted to turn her down, it was always good to keep connections with people in other departments in her line of work so she supposed she should help Pansy out. Not to mention that she sort of owed her after Pansy had saved her from a rather nasty incident involving a sinking boat and some angry merpeople.

"Fine, I'll take the damn case! But it might have to take a back seat for a while. I've got a client coming in today and I expect I'm going to be getting a pretty big case."

Hermione was almost knocked off her feet when Pansy practically threw the case file at her and hugged her tightly.

"Oh, thank Merlin for you Hermione! I don't know what I'd do without you!" She squealed as she scurried off towards the elevator before Hermione could change her mind. "And don't forget that I owe you a very large favour for this!" She shouted across the atrium as the doors closed on her.

"I most certainly won't." Hermione muttered as she started to walk back to her office.

She had been working at the ministry for 3 years now, having started after finishing her final year at Hogwarts once the war was done. She had applied to join one of the new departments that had been created following the war to help deal with all the damage that had been done, and had worked her way quickly up the ranks. Initially she had started in the Department of Missing Creatures and Artefacts, but after two years in the post she had been promoted. She was now a chief investigator for the Department of Missing Witches and Wizards, a department which, unfortunately, still had plenty of cases coming its way, even so long after the war.

Hermione walked into her large round office and sunk into her chair to take a look at what Pansy had given her. She probably should have asked before, but her confidence in her abilities from her school days sometimes still got the better of her, and she had figured the case wouldn't be too hard. After all Pansy was...Pansy. How wrong she was. The title of the case was bad enough. '7 Dragon Eggs Missing'. There had already been one rouge dragon, and that had been hard enough to deal with - but seven were another thing, especially if they were in the hands of the wrong people. But it was the client's name that filled her with more dread, Charlie Weasley.

The Weasleys and she were on slightly rocky ground at the moment, and had been since the very unpleasant break up between Ronald and her the previous year. Things had gone well at first, in the relief that followed the defeat of Voldemort, and she and Ron had been in a good relationship. He had, like Harry, become an auror and although he was an adept wizard he didn't fly to the top of the ranks like he thought he would. Hermione, however, had aced all her NEWTS and had quickly become the talk of the ministry as she solved even the hardest cases. Wherever they went witches and wizards had asked her to recount the many stories she had about her recovery of the strange creatures and artefacts lost in the war, often ignoring Ron sulking by her side.

Ron had quickly become jealous of her success and was grumpy and irrational almost all the time and it had slowly been becoming unbearable. The last straw finally came when Hermione returned from recovering a library's worth of rare books on dark magic found in an old death eater hide out located in deepest, darkest Russia. She had come home excited to tell him all about it, only to find that in her absence, Ron had taken up again with his sixth year girlfriend Lavender Brown. She had jinxed and hexed him as he'd tumbled out of bed with the panic of being caught etched on his face. He had ran after her towards the floo, his pants still 'round his ankles. Before he had the chance to speak she'd abruptly told him it was over and gone straight to Harry's in a blast of green flames.

Both Ron and all the Weasleys, Mrs. Weasley in particular, had tried to convince her to take him back - but with Harry on her side she had stood her ground. Unfortunately, however, her relationship with the Weasleys was ruined. She understood why they were so distraught, they had probably assumed that she and Ron would get married, that she would be the mother of their grandchildren, nieces and nephews, it was bound to hurt. However, after their efforts seemed to be failing they had started to blame the entire debacle on her, saying that it was no wonder Ron had strayed with Hermione working all the time and being off in other countries. It had enraged her that they still couldn't see their sweet little boy for what he was, a cheating, jealous little prick.

Despite the way things had ended she had still been very sad about losing them and missed the family that had become her own over the years. Perhaps she could try and fix things by helping Charlie, he hadn't taken it as badly as the rest of his family. Hopefully she'd be able to use this case to her advantage.

Hermione was broken out of her reverie before she could read the contents of the file when her clock struck three and there was a knock at her door.

She was expecting a client today and was pleasantly surprised when said client turned up on time. Many wizards did seem to have a tendency to be late, but then again she shouldn't be all that surprised, considering that her client today was the wonderful, and always punctual, Andromeda Tonks.


	2. A Challenge

**Beta'd by the amazing Mari681**

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Hermione greeted Andromeda enthusiastically and pulled her into a hug as she opened the door to her. They had become good friends after the end of the war, especially as both of them had lost their families. Nymphadora and Ted were dead and Hermione's own parents couldn't remember her. It was sad that such awful things had brought them together, but over the years Andromeda had become almost a second mother to Hermione - especially after falling out with Mrs. Weasley. Hermione was very happy that they had become so close, in spite of the reason.

"Oh Hermione dear! It has been far too long since I've seen you. I hope I won't have to keep making appointments with you to get you to spend time with me."

"I know, I know - I must make more time for you. It has been what? Five whole days since I saw you at Teddy's Birthday." She joked. "But, come now. You must sit down, as I'm assuming this isn't just a friendly visit." She said gesturing to the large, black baroque chair on the other side of her desk.

Andromeda's face suddenly took on an apprehensive and forlorn expression as she took her seat. She pulled an old brown envelope from her bag and clutched it tightly in her hands, her knuckles white.

"So what brings you here today?" Hermione asked tentatively, taking her own seat.

It took Andromeda a while to reply, as if she was having an internal debate as to whether whatever she was about to do was a good idea. Eventually, she made a decision and, with a big sigh, she began to explain.

"As you know, I've started to sort through a lot of Ted's old things. Last week, I went to his vault in Gringotts and I came across this." She said, passing the envelope to Hermione. "It was tied to a small chest which I haven't been able to get inside. It's probably easier if you read what it says yourself."

Hermione carefully slid the piece of paper out of the envelope and started to read.

_To Andromeda and Myself,_  
_You will have no recollection of this letter ever being written or of the information that it contains._  
_This letter is here to serve as a clue as to what lies inside the box to which this is attached._  
_In the year 1979 a baby was born. Due to the dangerous circumstances of the war, and additional threatening factors which I am not able to sufficiently explain in such a short letter, the child was given to a muggle couple who I was very close to in my youth. However, after finishing writing this, I will no longer remember who they are._  
_As I expect the people most likely to read this are my wife and myself I must offer a warning, the next part of what I am about to write will come as a great and devastating shock to you and you must understand that we did what had to be done to prevent any harm from coming to the child, Andromeda's child._  
_The baby is not my own, but I would have treated it as such had I been given the chance. It broke both of our hearts to do what we had to but we saw no other way to truly protect our baby._  
_Inside the box we placed the name, birth date and details of the adoptive parents of the child and after this is written and hidden we will obliviate ourselves to remove all knowledge of the child and its whereabouts so it can not be tortured from us should that event arise._  
_I am truly sorry and I hope that one day we find our baby again._

_Only those who know what they seek will find it._

_Ted Tonks._

Hermione was lost for words as she slowly placed the paper down on the table. The letter brought back the memory of what she had done to her own parents, and the all too familiar feelings of anguish and guilt which she tried so hard to keep in check started to bring tears to her eyes. She couldn't imagine how Andromeda must be feeling now, finding out that she had a child out there somewhere that she had never known and that had never known her.

She looked up at the sound of a sniff and saw that tears were running down Andromeda's cheeks too and she quickly went around the table to take her hands in her own.

"Oh Andromeda, I...I can't believe what I've read, I want to help you in any way that I can and, oh merlin, I just want to fix this for you." And she really did. Andromeda had been through so much because of the second war and the prejudices which had caused it and Hermione couldn't bear to think that the war had taken a second child from her too.

She squeezed Hermione's hands and gave her a weak smile. "Thank you Hermione, it means so much to me to know you'll help. At first I didn't know what to do when I read the letter, but when I decided that I needed to find out what happened to the child, my child, I knew that you were the only person I could trust with the job."

"And I will do my upmost to work this out for you." She said as she walked back round to her chair and got straight down to business.

"Right, first things first, do you have the box with you and is there any other information you can give me?"

"Yes, I have the box, but it seems impossible to get into. I've tried all sorts of different spells and read at least 20 books on wards, locking and protective charms, but nothing I do seems to make any difference at all."

"Hmm...that does sound like a tough one but leave it with me, and I'll see if I can get it open. Was there anything else in the envelope?"

"...Yes and no."

"How do you mean?"

"Well...inside there was a small brown hair. I was about to discard it thinking it was my own, when I realised how fine and soft it was. I thought, well maybe, it belonged to the baby."

Andromeda pulled out a small silver box which inside held a single curled strand of hair. Hermione looked long and hard at it, and also concluded that it looked like the hair of a baby, not Andromeda's, and at the moment it was probably the strongest lead she had.

"Now. I realise this is a very sensitive subject for you, but do you have any idea who the father of the child is?"

Someone who didn't know Andromeda as well as Hermione did wouldn't have noticed the way her eyes twitched just a little as she asked the question, or how what she said sounded ever so slightly rehearsed.

"No idea at all, the obliviate clearly did what it was supposed to do, and I don't think knowing will help us find my child."

Clearly, this was something Andromeda didn't want Hermione to know - but there must be a reason why not. Was she ashamed? Or Scared? She wouldn't push her for an answer now, but she knew it was something she would need to find out. Eventually.

"I suppose you're right, anything else you can think of that might be helpful?"

Andromeda paused for a moment, clearly deep in thought, but shook her head. "Not that I can think of now. I'll let you know if I come up with something though."

"Of course. Well, I think I have quite a bit here to be getting on with for the time being, and I'll owl you if I need anything or learn something."

"Thank you so much Hermione, this means more to me than I can describe." She said as she got up.

"It's my pleasure, always, but are you leaving already? We have so much to talk about."

"I'm afraid I have to pick Teddy up from Harry and Ginny's but we must catch up again soon."

"Of course, say hello to the Potters for me would you? And little Teddy too."

"I will, and...thank you again Hermione." Andromeda said as she smiled and turned to the dorr, leaving Hermione to one of the hardest cases she had ever been given. Even those missing dragon eggs would likely be a walk in the park compared to this.

Once Andromeda was gone Hermione slumped into her chair and set her mind to work at a rapid pace, thoroughly going through all the clues and their implications.

If what the letter said was true, and if the child was still alive, it would be about the same age as her, so around 23. In that case, if it was a witch or wizard, which was highly likely considering the child's mother was a pureblood, then it only stood to presume that it had been one of Hermione's fellow students at Hogwarts. The person most likely believed that they were muggle-born, which did narrow down the candidates of who it could be. Unless of course the child had been a squib, or if the muggles who took the baby had been instructed not to allow the child to go to Hogwarts. Then again, the letter didn't say anything of that nature, and it probably wasn't very likely anyway. She could always go through all the muggle-borns in her year and ask the parents if their child was adopted or not. That however would be potentially problematic considering many of them had died in the war at Hogwarts those few years ago and those left may be unwilling to talk.

She re-read the letter to see if there was anything that she was missing and something she had overlooked the last time stuck out to her._ Only those who know what they seek will find it._ It struck her as odd, and knew that it was probably an important part of the puzzle she had to solve, and most definitely had something to do with the locked chest.

Her best clue at the moment though, lied in the hair that was found in the envelope. From what she knew of Edward Tonks, he was a very clever man. It would seem a very clever thing to do to leave the only clue to who the child was as something that could so easily be discarded or looked over and prevent strangers from discovering the secret.

She decided that her best course of action would be to use the hair in a polyjuice potion, and hopefully it would result in her turning into whoever the child was. However she had some doubts about whether it would work. She knew polyjuice would give you the appearance of whoever you took the hair from but what if they had changed drastically since the hair was taken, like losing a limb, would those changes still take place, and if the person had aged 20 odd years would that show too? She knew her best bet would be to go and visit the best source of knowledge on potions she knew.

Professor Severus Snape.


	3. Unexpected Encounter

**Beta'd by Mari681 who has yet again done a wonderful job.**

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The next day, Hermione gathered the chest and the letter and apparated to just outside the grounds of Hogwarts - where she had to steady herself as the effects of travelling in such a way wore off. Even after apparating so many times when she was horcrux hunting with Harry and Ron, she still felt the faintness and nausea which so often accompanied it.

Once Hermione felt like she could move without falling over, she made her way to the gates where she was greeted by a young auror. After the war, security around the Hogwarts grounds was increased on account of what happened there, and the surprisingly large number of death eaters that were still on the loose. It meant that apparation inside the grounds was a privilege given to only a few, as was travel by floo - several protective spells prevented anyone from simply walking in.

The auror asked for her identity as well as her wand in order to check that said wand was in fact hers. After the stories of their adventures in the war had become common knowledge, especially their impersonation Bellatrix, several new measures had been developed for checking a person's identity. The spell the auror was now using was accordingly called the Gringotts Charm. Even if a person was using polyjuice potion, and presented that persons wand, the charm would show if they were an imposter. Although, these days that wasn't all that likely. The use of polyjuice potion for non-ministry purposes, after all, was prohibited and all previous stores of the potion had been destroyed.

It came as a surprise to Hermione, considering her extensive experience with it, that polyjuice was in fact a pretty rare potion so it had shocked quite a few to find out that it had been used to cause so much trouble during the war.

Once her identity was confirmed, Hermione was allowed through the gates and she started the long walk up through the grounds to the school. Even though it had been years since she had been here as a student herself, she still remembered every little detail about the place,. To her, it felt like home and it was good to be back.

Once inside she was almost knocked over by a couple to first years running to class, Gryffindors unsurprisingly, clearly late for their first lesson of the day and she couldn't help but let out a small laugh as she recalled Harry and Ron's first transfiguration lesson. It made her sad to remember that her friendship with Ron had been destroyed and that all those happy years they had spent together were all over.

She snapped herself out of her thoughts, reminding herself that it would do no good to think on it, and made her way to the defence against the dark arts classroom where, hopefully, she would find Snape. Approaching the door, she knocked tentatively, the old fear of her ex-professor still causing her to act like a schoolgirl around him - despite the fact that they had become quite close when she had returned to finish her last year of Hogwarts.

As no answer came she slowly opened the door to find it empty and, looking on the timetable inside the door, saw that there wasn't a class for another half hour. She then decided she would go and check the potions lab as that was the next most likely place that he would be found. When she got there it was also empty so thought that she may as well wait for Slughorn to show up and see if he could help her.

She became restless after a few minutes, it wasn't in her nature to sit around and do nothing, so decided she would make the best use of her time. She checked the shelves to see if there were any books in the room that might be useful to her case, Hogwarts, after all, was known for its impressive collection of literature. She picked up quite an old and uncommon book on high level potions and, leaning against one of the desks, began to flick through the pages in hope that it might hold the answers she was looking for.

Several minutes passed in a blur until she was startled by the fireplace roaring to life, causing her to almost drop the delicate book. Even before the green flames had subsided, she heard an all too familiar voice drawl "Well, well. Miss Granger, what brings you here to make my day just that little bit more…distasteful."

She whirled around and saw the immaculately dressed blonde with cane in hand, looking at her with disdain on his face, his eyebrow slightly raised as he questioned her.

"I think a more pertinent question would be to ask what you are doing here? And how is it you were able to floo here?" She snapped back at him, her hand automatically hovering over where she kept her wand. He still managed to instil fear within her, his face one which haunted her dreams, having never forgotten the way he'd simply turned his back on her when Bellatrix tortured her in his home. Even though he hadn't done anything wrong since the war, she was still wary of him. He was an intimidating man, and she couldn't help but feel threatened around him.

"Now, I really did expect you to already know why I am here Miss Granger. After all, your reputation, which I have had the misfortune of hearing about oh so often, as the brightest witch of your age, precedes you."

Hermione stood there in silence for a few seconds, resisting the urge not to hex the haughty expression right off his face. She tried to think of how he had managed to floo into Hogwarts and what awful thing he planned to do whilst he was there.

"I see I shall have to enlighten you." He sighed as he made his way over to the professor's chair and sitting down, slowly started to remove his gloves. "I assume you are familiar with the terms of my freedom." It again was a statement not a question and it infuriated Hermione how he managed to dismiss her intelligence without directly saying it.

"Of course, I was called as a witness to your trial if you recall." She brusquely replied.

"Ah, yes, so you were...you really did try hard to put me away, didn't you?"

She was about to snap back at him, but the words stuck in her throat as he looked up from the floo ash he was brushing off his shoulder and caught her eyes with an icy stare.

"Anyway, as you have pointed out that you so obviously know, a term of my release was that, for five years, I would aid the wizarding world in any way the Ministry saw fit." He continued before Hermione could interrupt him. "And as such, they have had me doing a multitude of things. Helping in trials, aiding ministry workers and even using my own home as a safe house for ruffians and muggle-borns alike." He stated, and although he kept his emotions in check very well, Hermione could still see the disgust on his face at just the thought of having muggle-borns in his home.

"And now they have ordered that I fill in as a member of staff here on account of the professor's sudden departure."

The feeling of loathing that had slowly been building in Hermione since Lucius had entered the room was suddenly replaced by panic.

"Oh Merlin! What's happened to Severus? Is he okay?"

She was too flustered to notice Lucius raise his eyebrows in intrigue at her use of the professor's first name and continued in her questioning. "You haven't done something to him have you?" She accused as she pointed her wand at him.

"Now, Hermione. Surely you should know by now that I would never harm _Severus_." He said as he made a point of emphasizing his friends name, revelling in the way it made her blush and curious as to why. "And he is fine; it is Professor Slughorn who has suddenly deserted his post."

She let out a sigh of relief at his words, silently berating herself for assuming so quickly that Malfoy had hurt Severus. It was easy to forget sometimes the few good things that her school nemesis' father had done, in spite of the time when his role as a death eater had become his identity.

Before the battle at Hogwarts, it had transpired that Snape had taken a potion which acted as an antidote to Nagini's poison, similar to one used on Mr Weasley back when they were in fifth year. One effect of the potion was to put the person in a coma-like state in order to focus all of the body's attention on fighting the poison and this is what she, Harry and Ron had seen, thinking in their hurry that Snape had died.

It had in fact been Malfoy who had found Snape when he fled the battle with his family. Snape had been lying in the boat house slowly dying from blood loss caused by the gaping wounds in his neck. Malfoy performed several healing spells on him, and carried him from the grounds thus saving his life. He had stood by him too, even when he found out Snape had been working for the other side all along.

"I still don't see why they have asked you to be here?" She questioned, suspicious of his reasons for being in Hogwarts.

"Well, Slughorn's position needed to be filled. Severus could have easily taken up the role of potions master again - but that would leave the position of the defence against the dark arts open and, somewhat unsurprisingly, the Ministry didn't want me teaching that." He ended in a tone that showed just how much he despised the institution that had such a great hold over him, before continuing. "So it may surprise you to find out, even though you must think I spent all my time torturing and murdering the innocent, I am in fact almost as skilled as Severus when it comes to potions.

"I can't say that I'm all that shocked, no. Despite my hatred of you, I am able to recognise that you are an intelligent man."

"A trait I believe we share." He said as a small frown appeared on his face, realising that he had just inadvertently complimented the witch he had come to so despise.

"I hadn't heard about Slughorn. I've been in Tuscany on a case and I tend to miss things whilst I'm gone, do you know why he has left?" She enquired.

"No, I don't believe anyone really knows. Although, if you're curious, I'm sure you're more than capable of finding out what you want to know. I do believe you're one of your department's best are you not?"

It surprised her to hear that Malfoy knew where she worked, let alone how good she was at her job. Then again, he was a very fastidious man so it only stood to reason that he would keep tabs on what one of the people who had aided in his ruin was doing.

After the war he was put to trial, and she had been outraged when he was allowed to go free with nothing but a large fine, weekly inspections of his home and the five years of aiding the Ministry. Admittedly, it had been proven that despite his high standings in Voldemort's ranks, he had rarely participated in the more despicable atrocities performed by the death eaters, having held more of a figurehead and financial role. It likely helped his case that his wife had essentially saved Harry's life and that he himself had saved Severus. She, however, didn't think that outweighed what he had done and the pureblood ideologies he still so obviously held.

"Yes I suppose I can look into it myself. Anyway, I've wasted enough of my time here talking to you. I have to go and find Snape now." She said as she slowly began to make her way to the door, suddenly starting to feel uncomfortable under his cold glare. "And I shall be stopping by the Headmistress' office to see that your story checks out." She disclosed, still not wanting to believe that he was being allowed to teach at Hogwarts.

Just as she was about to reach the door his voice caught her again. "I happen to know that Severus isn't in today as he is chaperoning a trip to Romania, something about dragons I believe." He stated, his voice showing that he found the idea of having to accompanying lots of children around dangerous animals entirely odious, something Hermione shared his sentiments about. Then his voice changed tone slightly "And, now that you have finished accusing me of breaking into Hogwarts and harming my oldest friend, I believe it is time for you to answer my initial question Miss Granger. An eye for an eye, after all." The corner of his mouth turning up ever so slightly at the look of obvious annoyance on Hermione's face.

"Why are you here?"


	4. A Proposition

He could tell by the look on her face that she could barely believe the conversation she was having or that he, such an awful ex-death eater, would have the audacity to question her, the perfect little Gryffindor hero. He could see that she was still scared of him though, the way her hand was never far from where she obviously kept her wand and that was triumph enough for him. He would hate to admit to himself that he was mildly curious as to what she was doing here; he after all couldn't help but hear about all the work she was doing, so causing her to squirm in his presence would be incentive enough.

"Shall I repeat myself?" He asked as if he was talking to a recalcitrant child.

"I heard you the first time Malfoy" She spat "And I don't see how it's any business of yours."

He knew what she said was true but he liked the challenge, to see if he could manipulate her, he always did enjoy games of the mind like this and despite her blood status he couldn't deny that this witch was smart.

"Perhaps I may be able to assist you" He said as he forced his lips into the smile he so often had to use when in public "I have after all helped your department in quite a few cases if you recall and although you may not like it I currently am the best source of knowledge on potions in Hogwarts at the present time."

"How did you know I wanted to talk about potions?" She questioned warily, forgetting her senses under the pressure of the situation.

He gestured to the room they were in and raised his eyebrow causing her cheeks to redden slightly at her slowness.

"I would much rather come back another time and see Severus than talk to someone like you." He saw her catch herself calling Snape by his first name again but probably hoped he hadn't noticed, she was growing more interesting by the second.

"Someone like me? You wound me Miss Granger with your prejudices." He said in a sarcastic tone.

"I wound you! My prejudices!" She shouted as she marched back into the room, anger spread across her face and he couldn't help but let a low laugh escape his lips at how easy it was to rile her up. It was slightly off putting while she stood there with anger in her eyes and for a moment he couldn't help but be reminded of Bellatrix but he concluded it must just be the wild hair.

"Do we need to discuss the outcome of my trial again or are you forgetting that I was acquitted?"

"Falsely, I still can't believe the morons let you go and just live your life with barely any consequences at all."

Another single laugh came from him as he thought of how ignorant she was to his situation.

"What's so funny?"

"You wouldn't understand." He stated "Not while you see me as you do."

He could see she was about to respond when her eye caught something on his desk.

"What is that?" She questioned as she picked up a piece of paper sticking out from a pile he had pulled out of his bag. Once he saw what it was he cursed himself for bringing it here, it in itself was not something bad to have in one's possession but it did indicate illicit activities which if he was thought to be attending could cause problems. Before he could come up with a solution she provided him with a way out.

"Is this for an underground auction, may I have it?" She asked with excitement lining her voice.

"You didn't strike me as the type to attend such events, aren't you full of surprises."

"It's for a case, missing magical creatures, and this is just the sort of place they might show up." She said defensively as she skimmed the page.

"There's no location." She commented.

"An astute observation, how odd that it isn't there." He said in a voice which suggested he knew otherwise.

"Do you know where it's being held?"

"Perhaps I do" He said, knowing that it was in her nature to crave knowledge and perhaps it would cause her to stay a little longer and divulge what he wanted to know.

"Maybe if you were to answer by own questions I might be more inclined to share."

She muttered something incoherent under her breath and folded her arms. She was clearly having an internal debate in her head; he could just imagine the conversation she was having with herself, knowledge or pride.

"You first." She demanded, finally caving.

"How do I know you'll actually tell me once I reveal my knowledge on the matter?" He asked, it was in his nature to be suspicious of everybody.

"Unlike you I have some honour and I keep my promises."

"Ah of course, how could I have forgotten that I'm a good for nothing death eater." He drawled "But very well, you may ask first." He said before she could cut him off with some remark about his past.

"Where is this being held and what do you know about it?"

"The location is only revealed the day before the event so I don't know but I'm sure I would be able to find the information once the time arose and all I know is what it says on the page."

"Well that wasn't very helpful."

"You never said I had to be helpful, you just said I had to answer your question."

She frowned but couldn't find a hole in his logic.

"Now then, why are you here?"

"It's for a case and I need some answers about the polyjuice potion amongst other things."

"And what is it about polyjuice you don't already know?"

"I can't find anything on how fresh the hair used in the potion needs to be and I am worried about the effects if the hair used was from someone who'd changed or aged dramatically."

"Well then isn't it useful that you told me."

"Do you know anything about it?" She asked as a smile came to her face, clearly forgetting the company she was in.

"I do, it was my misfortune to have to investigate a similar question for Voldemort." He cringed slightly as he said the name, the effect the man had had on his life still difficult for him even now he was dead. "It was somewhat different but may offer you an insight that you may find intriguing."

"Well what was it?"

"It depends how much you want to know."

"I could always take this flier to the ministry and cause you some trouble you know." She said, looking triumphant at her threat, he knew he should have tried to get the paper back from her before the thought came to her.

"Ah but wouldn't it be so much easier to answer another question of mine."

"What?" She asked shortly, clearly irritated by him but able to see sense in his words.

"What is in that box I can see in your bag?"

"I don't know."

"Well can't you just open it?"

"No it seems to have been very heavily warded, that's another reason I came to see Snape, to see if he can get into it." Ah she managed not to say Severus this time, she's learning he thought.

"Most curious…but now you've answered my question so I will answer yours, you see Miss Granger, I really am a man of my word."

"Fine" She huffed not wanting to believe him "Tell me what you know."

"I wasn't entirely sure why at the time but I understand now that it had something to do with his horcruxes but he asked some of his followers to see if you could polyjuice yourself into someone who was dead."

"And can you?" She asked tentatively, clearly unsure whether or not she really wanted to know the answer.

"Surprisingly yes, however there were complications."

"What sort of complications?"

"Well from what I was told you would turn into whatever condition the person had been in upon their death, so if they died from a severed limb for example then the person who had taken the polyjuice would also be missing a limb."

"So like when Barty Crouch Junior turned into Mad-eye?"

"Yes I suppose so, but in this case the wound was as it was when the person died so still fresh and causing large amounts of blood loss." He said as he wrinkled his nose slightly at the memory.

"Oh god that's awful, but very helpful."

"What do you want to use the potion for? I assume your needs are somewhat less disagreeable than his."

"It's a hair from a child taken about 20 years ago and I need to find out what will happen if I use it in a polyjuice potion and if it will even work."

"That does sound like a difficult question, I suppose your primary concern is if the potion will turn you into the age the person was when the hair was taken?"

"Yes I suppose so but now you've got me worried it will cause me to temporarily lose a limb." She said clearly exasperated.

"I am not aware of the circumstances of the person in question but it is unlikely that is the case."

"I suppose although I'm still concerned about the aging, but my more immediate problem is going to be getting hold of some of the potion" She said as she started to pace around the room "I could apply for a brewing permit but that could take weeks, I can't exactly make one myself without getting fined and the only place that can really brew one without authorisation would be-" She cut herself off and turned to face him, a sly smile playing on her lips.

"Mr Malfoy, I would like to make you a proposal."

"And what makes you think I will agree to it?" He questioned angrily causing her hand to hover back to where she kept her wand. He had almost forgotten himself due to the stimulating nature of their conversation about whom and what he was talking to and felt the need to reinstate his superiority over her.

"I'm sure the ministry would love to hear about what crowds you're stilling hanging around with." She said waving the auction flier around.

"It depends what you want." He said as he let out a sigh which came across a little like a growl.

"All I'd need you to do would be to make me a batch of polyjuice potion and I'll pretend that I never saw this piece of paper." She said smugly.

"I suppose that is not such an odious task" He admitted.

"Good." She said as she outstretched her hand to him "So do we have a deal?"

"I don't really have a choice unless I want to risk a trip to Azkaban by hexing you…although I suppose I could just obliviate you couldn't I."

"I'd like to see you try." She threatened.

"I see no need for it, you are as you say an honourable person so I shall trust you to keep this between us." He said as he took her hand and pulled her rather roughly towards him so that their faces were mere inches apart "But understand this" he said in almost a whisper "I am doing this not because of your threat but because it pleases me to see how much of a Slytherin you really are, I wonder if your dear friends know what you're really like."

He heard her release the breath she'd been holding and look into his eyes and for a second he swore her head tilted ever so slightly up towards his as her eyes flickered to his lips. He almost felt himself moving toward her but caught himself and quickly released her hand causing her to stumble back slightly looking flustered.

Somewhat stunned she quickly turned and walked towards the door and called back to him "It's been a pleasure seeing you today Mr Malfoy" in a tone so sarcastic it even challenged his own "and I'll be back for the potion in a month."

And then she was gone and for some reason he couldn't comprehend, he wanted to see her again.


	5. Investigation

That evening Hermione apparated back to her home in Cranley Place in central London; being part of the golden trio and having a high profile job at the ministry did have its benefits. Most people would find living in such a large house by themselves lonely but as she curled up into the sofa after grabbing a book from her extensive personal library she couldn't help but feel content. It was coming up to the end of November and it was one of her favourite times of year because it made for a great excuse to read by the fire.

As she tried to focus on her book, _The Unsolved Cases of the Wizarding World, _she found her mind kept drifting back to the events of the day. It should have gone differently than it had, she should have seen who it was and left but instead she'd been drawn into his little game and even worse she'd enjoyed the conversation. She kept trying to tell herself that it was the information she gained which made it such an interesting encounter but it was not his information but his parting words to her which were playing over and over in her head '_it pleases me to see how much of a Slytherin you really are'_.

It was true that after being exposed to the worst of the world from her years being one of Harry Potter's best friends that she had become much more devious and cunning, but a Slytherin, really, and why did she even care what Lucius bloody Malfoy thought of her anyway.

She should hate him and fear him and in truth she did, he was an ex-death eater and pureblood supremacist who could probably kill her without much trouble if he wanted and thought she was just a stupid little…mudblood. Even thinking the word made her cringe just as much as it did the first time Draco Malfoy had called her it back in her early years of Hogwarts. Like father like son she thought. Although then again, from the little she'd seen of Lucius he seemed to differ fom Draco in quite a few ways and not all bad. However he was the first person in a long time that had said things which excited and intrigued her, all she had been talking about since the war was Voldemort this, quidditch that and it was exhilarating to hear something new, even if it was coming from one of the most evil men in the wizarding world.

She was determined to continue reading the book and succeeded for half an hour or so until she turned the page to see the next chapter titled '_The Missing Marble Manticore of Malfoy Manor_'. Below the title was a picture of a Malfoy from around 200 years ago, his hair still clearly platinum blond even in black and white, posing next to a large statue of the magical creature. Unfortunately for her concentration the man looked strikingly like Lucius and her mind started to wander again.

She thought of the way he had grabbed her hand and pulled her close, she should have pulled away but something about the way his icy grey eyes bore into hers had stopped her from moving. As she had looked at his face she couldn't help but notice his sharp cheek bones, strong jaw and his lips which were pulled into a devilish smile. Before she knew what she was doing she had felt herself swaying towards him before his eyes had widened and she found herself being abruptly pushed backward.

She hid her head in the book as she remembered and she really hoped he hadn't noticed, why had she reacted that way to him, it was so wrong, she hated him and there was nothing more to it. So why can't you stop thinking about him then Hermione? Ugh she couldn't be dealing with this right now, she had two big cases to do and she should be focusing on those.

Forcing herself up from the sofa she made her way over to her bag and retrieved the folder on the missing dragon's eggs and decided to look it over.

There wasn't much information for her to go on, only that Charlie had collected the eggs found in an old death eater hideout, located from information given by Lucius Malfoy she begrudgingly read, and were preparing to transport them by portkey to Romania when they were ambushed. The eggs stolen were 3 Common Welsh Greens, 2 Hebridean Blacks, surprisingly a Ukrainian Ironbelly and 1 unidentified egg. No witches or wizards were harmed in the attack although Horace Slughorn fainted but this was concluded to be a result of the stress of the situation and not caused by a spell. Why was Slughorn there she wondered and now she thought about it, where was he now? She was also curious about the unidentified egg, it was odd that Charlie didn't know, she would definitely have to ask him about that.

After thinking about what to do next she decided her best course of action would be to go and see Harry. She could ask if he knew anything about the attack on the dragon eggs, finding dark wizards was his job after all, and maybe he could help her with the locked box and Slughorn's whereabouts as well.

Once she had readied her things for the next day she clambered into her bed, using a warming spell to heat up the crisp sheets and snuggled up. She knew that if she had any hope of keeping her mind away from Lucius Malfoy long enough that she could get to sleep at a decent time it would be by reading, well skipping any chapters on Malfoys that was.

She managed to sleep for an hour or so but was woken from her sleep by one of the nightmares about the war which still occasionally plagued her nights. She used to get them quite a lot when she had returned to Hogwarts but managed to avoid them most of the time thanks to Severus. After she had done badly in one of his tests she explained how she had been barely sleeping on account of the nightmares and he told her that he could help her. It turned out that one could use occlumency not only to hide your thoughts from someone but also temporarily push them to the back of even your own unconscious mind. He had offered to teach her the art and being a master at it himself things had gone well and they had become good friends from their time together. Unfortunately the talent didn't work so well when your mind was focused on that which you were trying to suppress and Hermione couldn't help but curse Lucius for reminding her of the past.

Knowing she wouldn't be getting back to sleep any time soon she decided to have a go at unlocking the box. After trying a multitude of different spells and checking some books on high level wards for two hours it still remained firmly sealed. Frustrated and with sleep finally threatening to overtake her again she made her way back to bed and hoped she wouldn't have any more nightmares tonight, especially none with a particular blonde death eater in them.

The next day she found herself sitting in Harry's office in the auror department waiting for him to arrive. He did have a tendency to get into work late these days but that was probably an unavoidable consequence of living with the Weasleys whilst they planned his wedding to their only daughter. He had proposed last month and the wedding wasn't due until April but knowing Mrs Wesley the organising and preparation had already begun. It saddened her a little to know that she wouldn't be at the Burrow these coming months to help them out, it probably would have driven her crazy after a while but she still felt left out. Even though she was going to the wedding she knew it wouldn't be the same as being a part of all the planning.

She didn't have time to think on what she was missing out on for long as Harry came bustling through the door with papers sticking out his brief case and his hair sticking out in all directions. She raised an eyebrow at him and gestured at his unusually dishevelled appearance, suddenly remembering that it was the exact same thing Malfoy had done to her yesterday.

"Dresses." He muttered as he made his way to his desk.

"Ah." She responded, knowing that was explanation enough.

After catching up on the wedding plans and how everybody was doing Hermione got straight down to business first asking him if he could get someone to have a go at the box.

"I've tried a lot of spells but nothing is working for me, maybe someone in your department could have a go at it."

"Sure we have a witch who specializes in this sort of thing so I'll send it on to her, I'll even have a go at it myself if you like."

"Thanks Harry that would be great, I'm afraid that's not the only reason I came to see you today though."

She explained to him the details of the dragon egg case and asked if he had any more information about the attack. It turned out that they had been tailing one of the attackers for quite a while on suspicion that he was a snatcher on the run after the war. Unfortunately they hadn't been fast enough to stop the ambush but got there in time to scare off the attackers. He explained that Slughorn had been there in an attempt to identify the mysterious egg on account of his familiarity with some of the rarer and odder creatures of the wizarding world.

"He did always have a penchant for things like that didn't he." Hermione reminisced.

"Oh yeah, remember that time I caught him stealing Tentacula leaves in sixth year to sell on the black market?"

"How could I forget – oh Harry that reminds me, do you have any idea where I would be able to find any information about that kind of thing, I have a lead about an auction but I'd like to find out more about it before I even think about going."

"Please tell me you're not going to do something dangerous again Hermione, I heard about the mer-people you know." He said chuckling.

"Have a bit more faith in me Harry, you know I wouldn't do something reckless without being prepared." She could see him about to argue her point but cut him off "I had the situation under control, I'm here aren't I."

"Whatever you say." He said with a smile. Harry was like a brother to her and was her closest friend, she didn't know what she'd do without him and appreciated that he knew when to stop. "Well if you want to find out about illegal trading your best bet would be in Knockturn alley, you should try Borgin and Burkes, I wouldn't be surprised if they knew a thing or two about things like that."

"Ah yes of course, and don't worry I'll be careful." She said before Harry could warn her. She knew he was just protective of her but she had proved many a time just what a capable and powerful witch she was and it did annoy her a little that he still treated her like a first year sometimes.

"On the topic of Slughorn, have you heard about him leaving his post at Hogwarts?"

"Yes, McGonagall owled me about it, you'll never guess who they've got replacing him."

"I think I have a pretty good guess." She mumbled.

"What?"

"Oh nothing." She lied, not really wanting to recall what had happened the day before. "Anyway it seems a little odd to me that he would just leave so abruptly, there must be a reason for it."

"It does sound strange, I'll see if anyone in the department has heard anything."

"Thanks again Harry, you're always so helpful, anyway I'll let you get back to your work, looks like you've got a lot to do."

They said their goodbyes and Hermione went back to her office to work on some of her other cases. Once it was the evening she decided she would follow up on Harry's idea and made her way to Knockturn alley.

She wore her big cloak with the hood up as she made her way through the street, it was best that she wasn't recognised in a place like this since almost everyone knew her face these days. She quietly entered the shop and saw another patron was up at the counter so she pretended to browse the shop. She noticed they were talking so slowly made her way closer to the two men so that she could hear what they were saying. The customer was well dressed but dirty, as if he'd been to a place where animals were kept and he had quite a few scratches and scars on his face. She was as close as she could get without looking suspicious but they were speaking in hushed tones so she couldn't make out anything. Under her breath she cast what was a variation of the amplifying charm which made the desired sound louder to only the caster of the spell.

"So I hear there's a big one coming up soon, your lot bringing anything?"

"Might be, nothing you'd be interested in though I'm sure."

"I don't know about that, word has it that you're in possession of something very interesting indeed, seven something's if I'm right."

"Now where did you hear about that?" The scarred man asked as he grabbed the man behind the counter by the collar "No one is supposed to know about that, those eggs are going to make us all very rich men and I don't want word getting out to the wrong people about the auction, you don't want just anybody turning up, not to mention those imbeciles from the ministry."

Hermione's face lit up at the mention of what she was looking for and in her excitement managed to knock something over, she tried to catch it, dropping her wand in the process but missed and it smashed to the ground. Suddenly both men turned to face her, seemingly oblivious to her presence up until then, and the man with the scars let go of the other and started to walk towards her, wand pointing straight at her.

"Now what do we have here, looks like an eavesdropper to me." He said as he edged closer to her.

Instinctively she reached for her wand and to her distress couldn't find it, he was getting closer and she started to panic, backing away from the him towards the door frantically scanning the floor for her wand.

He followed her, his strides getting faster, wand raised and she was sure he was about to attack her when suddenly she felt a strong arm pushing her out the way and a flash of long platinum blonde hair.


	6. Discovery

She fell backwards hitting her head on the way down, it burned with pain but nothing could distract her from what was happening in front of her.

The scarred man had shot a stunning spell her way only to find a new target stepping into its path, a target who with a casual flick of his wand deflected the spell. Several more curses came flying towards him, none even getting close, each one more panicked and frenzied than the next as the man realised who he was facing.

"Incarcerous" came the haughty voice of Lucius Malfoy, his tone dripping with boredom as though he was fighting a first year.

Chains sprung forth from his wand and bound themselves around the man causing him to crash to the ground and his wand to fall from his hand. A pristine dragon hide boot stopped it as it rolled across the floor and with a twist from his foot the wand cracked under his heel. The shopkeeper who had stood mouth agape watching suddenly broke from his state of shock and apparated from the building. The sound snapped Lucius away from glaring at the man on the floor with a look of disdain on his face and he turned to look down at Hermione.

"Miss Granger, I did not expect to see you again so soon." He said with the forced smile he wore so well.

"Trust me Malfoy, it was not intended" She tried to get up but her head was swimming and she fell back down to the floor again. He rolled his eyes at her and after pulling on his dark leather gloves a little tighter offered her a hand. She shot him a look but took it anyway considering it was her best bet of getting off the floor any time soon and steadied herself against the wall. It was't until she realised they were still holding each others hands for much longer than was necessary that she quickly let go.

"I must admit I was surprised to see you in here but when I saw you having a little…trouble, I simply couldn't stand by." He stated "Now would you care to tell me what it is you are doing here?"

"I should be asking you the same thing, I don't expect the ministry would be too pleased to hear about you being in a place like this."

"Not even a thank you, tut tut Miss Granger I thought you have better manners, I did just save you did I not?" If she wasn't so irritated by him she might have commended him on his ability to sound so genuinely wounded by her words. "Besides although it is none of your business you may be interested to know that the Ministry has ordered me to come here every month or so and see if there are any particularly dark items for sale."

"I suppose someone like you being here wouldn't cause too much suspicion." She conceded as she reached round to feel the back of her head with was still throbbing with pain and was shocked to find it wet. She brought her hand back to see it covered it warm, sticky blood and looked up to see a flash of concern cross Lucius' face before it reverted back to its normal stern self.

"You're hurt, I could heal the external wound for you but if there is any damage inside I can take you to St Mungos."

"No not there." She said a little too fast, her conversation with Harry about being able to handle herself ringing in her ears. If she was taken to St Mungos then Harry would surely hear about it. Then she'd not only look like a fool but she'd also have to explain to him what had happened today but also at Hogwarts and for some reason she didn't think that would be a great idea.

"Suit yourself." He said as he moved round the back of her and cast the appropriate spells, sealing up the wound and removing the blood.

Suddenly they heard a groan coming from the man on the floor who must have been knocked out by his fall.

"Ah yes I had forgotten about your little friend, what shall we do with him, take him your beloved ministry perhaps?"

She really should take him to the ministry but that would mean letting Harry know again, besides she could always get a little more information out of him while she had him, it was the whole reason she'd come here after all.

"No I need to interrogate him still." She said trying to sound as professional as possible but he saw through it.

"Now I'm familiar enough with Ministry protocol to know that's not what you're supposed to be doing." He said in a condescending tone "But yet again your Slytherin nature has intruiged me so I don't think I'll be reporting you, however I'm interested to know where you intend on taking him?"

It was a good question, it wasn't like they could stay here and she certainly didn't want to take him to her home. She was thinking of all the possible places when Lucius provided her with an answer.

"We could take him to the manor if you like, and we'd better be quick about it, you never know where or to whom that other man apparated to."

How could she have forgotten about the other man? Was she always this slow or did Malfoy just seem to have a boggling effect on her brain by filling it with annoyance. She really didn't want to go with him, awful things had happened to her in that house but right now she couldn't think of another option, not to mention that she would probably have trouble trying to apparate with the man by herself.

"Fine let's go…thank you." She said out of courtesy, despite hating him he had helped her in more than one way already tonight.

"Ah at last a thank you." He said as his lips curled into a smug smile. He accioed her wand and passed it back to her before levitating the still bound man from the floor towards them. Placing one hand on the man he glanced out the window into the street seemingly checking for something before offering her his hand. Suddenly she thought about all the horrible places he could be taking her but for some strange reason she didn't feel so threatened by him anymore. He'd saved her hadn't he, healed her, given her wand back, surely he wouldn't have done any of that if he'd wanted to cause her harm.

She reached out accepting his outstretched hand and felt the familiar pull of apparation as the sight of the dark shop disappeared to be replaced by the interior of Malfoy Manor. The walls were a dark grey but the room wasn't gloomy as one might have expected. It was clearly a sitting room with a grand, black antique chesterfield sofa facing an intricate fire place that had two stone snakes running up the side and meeting in the middle. Anywhere else and it would have looked out of place but everything in the room from the colour of the floor boards to the picture frames suited it perfectly. It wasn't until the scarred man was ceremoniously dumped on the floor that she brought her thoughts back to the matter in hand.

She unbound his mouth so that he could speak and as soon as it was free he spat at her feet but before he could say whatever foul thing he had in mind his words were knocked out of him as Lucius kicked him in the ribs. She should have objected to that but the corner of her lips had already pulled up slightly into a satisfied smile as she caught his eye, maybe she was just as much of a Slytherin as he seemed to think she was. Pushing that somewhat disturbing thought to the back of her mind she turned back to the man who this time kept his mouth tightly shut as he curled in on himself.

"Now before you so rudely tried to stun me you were talking about the missing dragon eggs, where are they?" She had grown a lot tougher in her years since joining the ministry as she all to often found herself having to question people like him.

"I don't know." He said before glancing back to Lucius who was now standing menacingly in the corner of the room, as glass of fire whiskey in his hand. "I swear I don't, I was just part of the team who stole 'em, they were taken somewhere for safe keeping before they're auctioned off."

"I see, tell me what you know about this auction." He seemed reluctant to talk about it for some reason but as she started to toy with her wand in her hand he gulped and started to talk "Look, I don't want no trouble, I mostly just look after the animals we take but this auction is a big deal, lots of things being sold, dark things, rare things and stolen." He said as he fidgeted against the chains which were still tightly wrapped around him "If someone finds out I told you anything about it they'll kill me for sure."

"I don't see how they'll be able to do that when you're in the ministry cells." She stated simply.

He looked like he was going to argue but she heard footsteps start to move across the room towards them and glancing behind her again the man started to talk. "I don't know where it is yet but all the eggs are going to be sold there, it's where we'll get the best price and there are going to be a lot of interested buyers, people like him." He said gesturing to Lucius with his head. "People you don't want to get in the way of."

Not like that's ever stopped me before she thought. "Right, the eggs, describe them to me."

"Well it was dark most of the time but from what I could tell there was an Ironbelly, couple of Hebrideans, 3 Welsh Greens and one I'd never seen before."

"What did it look like?"

"Well it was smooth which is a bit odd for a dragon egg but it was just as robust as they normally feel and it was a bright yellow even in the dark, never seen one myself before but it's probably one of the rare foreign breeds, reckon we'll get the most for that one."

"Interesting, right now last question, how can I find out where the auction will be?"

He'd seemingly given up trying to withhold his information at this point because he started to speak without hesitation "Firstly you'd have to get hold of a flier, they tend to only be given to people the auctioneers want to be there and it's charmed to only reveal the location to those who know the password."

"Do you know what it is?"

"No, got no need to know it, I'll just go wherever the rest of the group tell me to go."

"Well if you don't have anything else to say I think we're done here." She said before obliviating him, she'd been using legilimency on him the whole time and new he had been telling the truth and that he'd be of no more use to her.

"What are you doing?" Lucius asked now standing right behind her.

"I'm changing his memories so that he'll think he tried to attack you for doing something awful to him in the past so naturally you defended yourself and now you're going to take him to the ministry to be arrested."

"And what makes you think I'll do that?" He said as his voice returned to its natural tone of superiority.

"Well I could always apparate him there myself and tell them that you kidnapped us both." She said somewhat half-heartedly, their little game of resisting everything the other said starting to grate on her nerves a bit.

He too seemed to share her sentiment and begrudgingly agreed to do it on the condition that she wait for him to return. She agreed and after stunning him Lucius apparated out of the Manor.

She could have left, probably should have, although he had helped her she didn't owe him anything considering all the things he'd done to her in the past but for some reason she couldn't quite bring herself to go. Instead she started to walk around the room looking at the ornaments and pictures and one in particular caught her eye. At first she thought it was of an 18 year old Draco before realising that it was not Lucius Malfoy standing behind him but Abraxas, Lucius' father. He did look strikingly similar to Draco at first glance but once she looked more closely they weren't very similar at all. The young Lucius was taller, his hair longer and his face more defined but it was his eyes which really caught her. The rest of his expression was so controlled as it was today but his eyes looked almost lifeless and full of rage and pain all at the same time, it was mesmerising and she suddenly found herself feeling sorry for him. From what she had read about Abraxas he was something of a political and business tycoon, known for his intellect but also for his temper and affiliations during the first war. It was rumoured that he helped finance Voldemort the first time around and Hermione wondered whether he had offered up his son to the Dark Lord too.

She was still looking at the picture when Lucius popped back into the room looking considerably angrier than before.

"What happened?" she asked as she set the picture back down.

"They almost hexed me when I walked in there with him, assuming I'd done something wrong yet again and didn't believe me until they asked the man what happened and checked my wand to see what spells I'd cast." He strode over to his bottle of fire whiskey again pouring himself another drink and downing it in one. He poured another and went to sit down on the sofa, gesturing for her to join him.

"What were you checking?" She suddenly asked, she had wondered why at the time and was curious as to what he had been doing. "Back in the shop I mean, before we apparated you were looking out the window." She added seeing the confusion on his face.

"You don't think the ministry would ask me to do that job without some sort of ulterior motive do you?" He asked as he took another sip and sighed "I knew as soon as they asked me to do it that it was just another way for them to try and catch me out, sending me there and hoping I'd buy some dark artefact, they had someone follow me for the first year but after I did nothing wrong they stopped."

She knew the ministry kept track of people, and rightly so, but trying to set them up seemed a bit excessive, but then again didn't he deserve it?

"Why did you save me today?" She asked, genuinely curious.

"You never know when they might start following me again, wouldn't have looked very good if I'd just stood by and watched the golden girl get hexed now would it." He chuckled as he took another sip and his eye caught the picture she had been looking at before. Suddenly his expression changed and his brow creased as his sat up a little straighter, repositioning the picture "It's not like I really care if something bad were to happen to someone like you." He said venomously but Hermione noticed it sounded a little forced, or was she just hoping that?

"Well if you're going to be like that then I see no reason to stay." Hermione shouted as she abruptly stood up and withdrew her wand. She saw him flinch slightly at her words but before he could say anything she carried on "Thank you for your aid today Mr Malfoy but I will not be staying here with your prejudiced views any longer, good bye."

And with that she apparated away but as she was leaving she saw him pick up the picture of his father and himself and throw it across the room.


	7. Acceptance

The picture shattered on the floor as the sound of Hermione apparating away echoed through the now empty room. He sat there for what felt like hours breathing deeply, staring at the pieces which glimmered in the light from the fire as he tried to fight the feelings and thoughts that were aching to be acknowledged. There was a small crackling from the fire and a rogue ember spat from the flames and landed on the corner of the now unprotected picture. A small line of smoke could be seen forming and it was almost as if the flames were taunting him – are you going to save the picture? Do you really care what happens to it or are you going to let it burn?

Before he could make the decision a loud crack was heard as his head house elf Lika appeared in the room and quickly extinguished the flames. Normally he would have snapped at her for disturbing him but for some reason found himself imagining what Hermione might say '_She's just doing her job, for all she knew you weren't in here and the house was going to go up in flames, you should thank her.'_ He had a sudden urge to do the exact opposite to spite the imagined version of the woman who had overtaken his mind but he was cut short when Lika handed him the picture and left taking the broken frame with her.

Half of it had been burnt, his father's face now no more than a black smudge and all that was left was a younger version of himself staring back at him with an expression he was sure he still wore now. He remembered the day this picture was taken and thinking back to it couldn't see why he had ever kept it.

He had been 17 at the time, although he had always looked old for his age, and that day had been one which had changed his life forever. It was one year into the first war and although things in the wizarding world were crumbling the Malfoys continued life as usual and that included yearly family portraits. That morning however a visitor had come to the house and talked with his father for quite some time. Lucius hadn't any idea who it was but was curious when his mother told him he was required in the study with his father and that someone very important wanted to meet him.

At first he had been excited as he proudly strode towards the room, stopping just outside the doors as he straightened his robes. He had been taught that appearances really were everything in the wizarding world and that a pureblood like himself should always be presentable, especially when in company such as this. His initial happiness at being summoned by his father had been quickly diminished however when he opened the doors and saw who sat across from him, a man he hoped he would never have to meet.

_"Ah Abraxas he looks so like you did in your youth, I assume he is as talented." A velvet voice had said._

_"Of course my Lord, he has excelled in all forms of magic and is a particularly talented dueller." His father bragged as if he were describing a prize animal instead of his only son._

_"Yes, yes excellent, I have heard great things about you Lucius, come here boy." The man asked in a tone which only those looking for it would have heard as commanding._

Although he had been reluctant his logic won over his instinct and he bravely walked forward with his head held high, knowing that in truth he had no choice in what was about to happen. Voldemort had been polite and amenable, probably for the benefit of his father who was a big funder of his cause but Lucius was a sharp boy and saw straight through it, could feel the evil that seeped from the man before him. They had talked for an hour or so as he nodded and agreed and said everything he knew he was supposed to say and by the end of the day he had the dark mark branded into his left arm.

It was an honour his father said and that he should be proud that he had been chosen for such a prestigious position but all Lucius could think about was how he'd just been set on a path he'd never wanted to be on. As they'd stood for their portrait that evening to commemorate what Abraxas had called a great and joyful day Lucius just stared into the camera trying to void himself of feeling as he felt the tears start to prick at his eyes.

He looked down at the picture in his hands and thought how if only he had known then what he knew now, if he'd said no, then maybe things wouldn't be the way they were today. Maybe he'd still have a wife. Maybe his son would visit him more than once a month and not have a look of disgust poorly hidden behind his eyes. Maybe he wouldn't have this voice in his head telling him that mudbloods, "_Muggle-borns Lucius_" her voice chimed through his thoughts, were below him and maybe he'd be able to say something nice to Hermione without feeling guilty.

He knew it was wrong, that they were all equal but for so many years he had been conditioned to believe that was the truth, he'd done awful things and always told himself that it was justified because he was a pureblood and he was superior, that it was all for some sort of greater good, that he wasn't weak for not being able to say no.

Deep down he knew that he had had a choice, that he could have run and rebelled against what he knew to be a lie even though he would probably have been killed, at least then he wouldn't feel like he did every single day.

He wouldn't feel like a coward.

* * *

She apparated into her bedroom and collapsed on her bed with a groan, how could someone aggravate her so much but make her want to go right back and see him again as soon as she was gone. He was starting to relax around her, open up, _or maybe it was just so that he could use you_ the sensical part of her brain thought. When he saw the picture of his father it was as though his default position, his need to feel superior, was ripped back to the surface. She hated him for all the things he had done but for some reason it was as though her heart started to ache a little now that she wasn't with him. She had so many more questions she wanted to ask him, wanted to just talk with him on the same intellectual level but knew she shouldn't, couldn't, what would everyone she knew think of her if she told them she was actually happy she had run into him.

She had lain in bed that night being unable to think of anything other than him, everything he had done for her these last few days. Her head didn't hurt at all and she had to admit that she was impressed with his healing skills and didn't doubt he could have fixed anything worse if he had wanted to. It made her sad to think of all the times he probably had to heal himself and many other death eaters, all the awful things he must have seen…and done.

She didn't like to use it often but knew that tonight she would have no chance of sleeping without it so took a dreamless sleep potion and focused on suppressing her memories before slowly falling into darkness.

The next week was slow and difficult. She had made significant progress on all of her other cases and now the only files left on her desk were for Charlie Weasley and Andromeda. She had been avoiding them, trying to fill her mind with anything and everything other than the things that would remind her of Lucius. One night she had even gone so far as to request his case files under the pretence of needing them for a case just so that she could remind herself why she was supposed to hate him. That however hadn't really worked because in everything she read she could see the underlying restraint and reluctance in his actions and although she couldn't deny the terrible things he had done she wanted to believe that he didn't have a choice, even though in reality she knew that everybody had a choice.

She got into work on Thursday to find a letter on her desk from Harry telling her to come and see him. Curious she made her way to the auror department and was about to turn onto Harry's corridor when she saw the all too familiar dishevelled, ginger figure of Ronald Weasley leaving his office. Panicking she kept walking and just as she thought he hadn't seen her cringed as she heard him call after her.

"'Mione, is that you?"

She took a deep breath and turned back to go and talk to him. It had been months since she had last seen him and really didn't need for him to be spiteful or critical of her today so she was surprised when he embraced her in a hug, pinning her arms to her sides. Stunned she could only get out a feeble hello.

"What are you doing here?" He asked.

"Oh, um, I came to see Harry."

"But his office is down here."

"Oh is it, I'm always getting lost round here, it's far too big isn't it." She lied and he should have known she was but as always he underestimated her.

"Well how are you 'Mione? I've-we've all missed you."

"I'm good Ron but right now I'm in a bit of a rush, lots of work to do." She said not realising until it was out her mouth that it was saying things like that which had broken them up in the first place, well that and him cheating on her.

"Oh right." He said with a disgruntled look on his face and she couldn't help but smile a little that she might have hurt his feelings, _" I wonder if your dear friends know what you're really like" _Lucius' voice rang in her head and this time she didn't feel so offended by his words.

"Well you should come over soon, we're having a Christmas party in a couple of weeks and I'm sure everyone would love to see you." He said smiling and with a bit of a pleading edge to his voice.

"I'm sure." She said dubiously but decided it might be good to try and mend some bridges "Well let me know when it is and I'll come if I'm free."

A smile lit up on his face and she felt a brief flicker of guilt at her earlier jab but that was quickly replaced with annoyance when he again gave her an unwarranted hug as he said goodbye.

Trying not to think on the encounter too much she made her way down the corridor and knocked perhaps a little too forcefully on Harry's door.

"Oh hey Hermione, you just missed Ron." He said smiling.

"What a shame." She replied shortly.

"You know he really is sorry for what happened Hermione, I know he wants to make it up to you."

"Well he took a bloody long time to realise he should be sorry didn't he." She snapped "Sorry Harry, I don't mean to take it out on you, I know he's your best friend and this whole ordeal has been difficult for you but can we just not talk about it?"

"Sure." He said and she smiled to think about what a good friend he was. "Right well I've been working on the stuff you gave me and I've got some answers although unfortunately you might not find them all that helpful."

He told her about Slughorn and how once they'd managed to locate him someone had gone to see him but that he'd insisted he was just getting too old for the job and couldn't take the hours anymore. He said that he was almost as hard to find as he was during the second war, always moving from place to place with extensive wards in place. She was curious about that and decided she would go and talk to him herself casually asking Harry where on earth he'd been this time knowing he wouldn't give up the information freely if she asked directly.

The results from the efforts in trying to open the box weren't good either and the witch who'd tried to open it had been very frustrated that she wasn't able to get inside. She said it was probably a spell which had an unknown condition attached to it, similar to the magic around Voldemort's locket horcrux which required a payment for entry.

She wanted to ask Harry more about the auction but would probably have to disclose where she'd found out you needed a password to find out the location. She was good at lying but her best friend would probably see through it if she did and the truth wasn't a good idea, besides any mention of Lucius would most likely cause him to assume the worst and go round to arrest him for manipulating Hermione's memory or whatever implausible, _or not so implausible_, reasons he could come up with.

She thanked him for his help and made her way to the ministry library in order to look up conditional protective spells. She poured through many books until nightfall and even took some home but after trying all she could and seeing no more that looked plausible decided her best bet would be to go and look through the Hogwarts library.

So on Friday afternoon after owling McGonagall to check it was alright to come she once more found herself walking up to the gates of Hogwarts where the same young auror was again at the gate. He greeted her cheerily and let her pass without performing the appropriate checks which she reprimanded him for, although there had not been any attempts to break into Hogwarts since the war you could never be too careful.

As she made her way to the library she noticed that she was looking around everywhere, double-talking every time a blonde student ran past and realised that she was looking for him, for Lucius, hoping that she would bump into him. Once she was settled in the restricted section, a pile of books in front of her, she realised how disappointed she was that she hadn't seen him and tried not to think about why.

She was there for several hours and it had started to get dark by the time she realised that most of the other students had left the library. She was tempted to leave too but it was the sound of the doors opening that changed her mind and the familiar tapping of a cane as its owner started to walk towards where she sat.

* * *

He had been unable to stop thinking about her all week and it infuriated him, how had this young witch infatuated his mind in a mere two days.

He did all he could to distract himself by managing his estate, reading the most difficult books and even spending extra time at Hogwarts but all failed and he decided that he had to see her again, just one more time. He had thought of everything to try and organise seeing her again, even going so far as to consider creating a case for her to take on but all his ideas seemed futile or obvious.

After yet another day of being constantly distracted by thoughts of her he made his way to the library to see if there were any challenging books that he did not possess in his own. He liked to come in the evening when he knew it would be free of all the pesky students who would either annoy him with their loud babbling or whisper about him when they thought he couldn't hear. He was pleased to see that the students were still scared of him though and that was pretty much the only perk of his forced role so far.

He entered the restricted section where the more interesting books could be found and was surprised to see a lamp glowing in the far corner. He was curious and slowly made his way towards it and upon rounding the corner stopped in his tracks. There she was, right in front of him looking up at him past her books and to his shock – she smiled.

He found himself smiling back and, trying not to walk too quickly, strode over to where she was sitting.

"Miss Granger."

"Mr Malfoy." She nodded at the seat opposite her, it was a sign of welcome and he wasn't about to turn it down.

"Thank you." He said as he took the chair and then they sat in silence for a minute as she returned to reading the last pages of her book before sighing and slamming it shut.

"Still no luck on the box I presume."

"No, I've read everything on it both here and at the ministry and nothing is working."

He liked how she didn't have to ask how he knew what she was doing, she was smart enough to know he'd read all the covers of the many books sprawled about the desk.

"Perhaps you would like to come and take a look through the library at the Manor, it has many books that you won't find anywhere else." He offered hoping that she would be tempted to accept his offer, he was convinced that if he could just spend a little time with her now that he would be able to get her out of his head.

"That would be wonderful" She said, her eyes were alive with excitement but covered by a slight frown. "Although if you're going to speak to me like last time I think I will have to decline your offer."

"No" he said a bit too fast as he reached across to her hand, quickly retracting it when she looked a little shocked. "I promise you that I won't speak to you in such a way again." His pride wouldn't let him apologise for it but he thought, hoped, that would suffice.

She seemed to mull it over for a while but finally said the words he had been waiting to hear.

"Alright yes that would be very helpful, thank you, when shall I come?."

"I can take you there now if you would like?" He offered, worried that she may change her mind if he waited. "It would probably be most convenient considering no one other than myself and Draco can apparate to the Manor." He added trying to convince her.

"I suppose that would be best, let me just put my books back and then I'll be ready to go."

Relief flooded over him and after helping her return the books to the appropriate place he offered her his hand which this time she took without hesitation.

He apparated them straight to the library and was pleased to see that she seemed in awe of the room and that she had yet to let go of his hand.

"This is incredible, I don't think I've ever seen so many books." She said as she made her way over to the nearest shelf. "Not to mention such rare ones, Merlin I can't believe you've got this." She exclaimed picking up a book Lucius knew most thought was long gone from the wizarding world.

"Well feel free to read any you like although the ones you're probably interested in are in that shelf." He pointed. "But first would you like anything to eat? It is late after all." His nature as a gentleman caused him to ask.

"Yes thank you, something small would be lovely."

With that he called for Lika who appeared immediately and he was sure to be very polite to the elf when asking her to bring Hermione some sandwiches and tea all the while watching her expression out of the corner of his eye, pleased to see that she looked surprised.

He stayed with her as she looked through his books, reading several himself as the night wore on. Despite the fact that they weren't saying anything to each other he was glad that she was here and that she had seemingly forgiven him for his discretion at their last meeting. It wasn't until he heard the book fall from her lap that he noticed she had fallen asleep.

He knew he should wake her but found himself unable to. Her face looked so peaceful as she slept, her wild curls falling around it and he couldn't help but notice how beautiful she was. Unable to bring himself to cause her to leave he summoned a blanket and draped it over her, carefully removing her shoes. He had a strange urge to kiss her forehead but thought better of it before walking to the door in order to return to his room.

When he reached for the handle he couldn't help but look back at her sleeping contently one last time and without realising it he smiled, the ache he had been feeling in his chest for the last week a little smaller knowing that she was here.


	8. Trust

**WARNING: Slightly explicit content so don't read the first section if that's not your thing. (It's split into 3 so if you want to avoid it just read the last 2).**

She awoke to the sound of a small crack and the slight clinking of china and was startled when she saw the small house elf across the room setting out some tea. Momentarily she had forgotten where she was but the memory of the previous night's events soon came back to her. As she stretched and looked around she saw that the library of Malfoy manor was even more impressive in the daylight and the room's full glory could truly be appreciated. The room, which had to be the size of about three tennis courts, was covered in a seemingly continuous shelf which only parted to allow space for the grand fireplace and colossal window opposite it which looked out to the grounds. The shelves were full right up to the ceiling which in itself was easily five times the height of a normal room and Hermione had seen from her short look that almost all of them were rare or valuable.

"Good morning miss." The house elf greeted her. Hermione hadn't picked up on it the night before but she saw now that unlike the elves she'd seen before this one was wearing clothes, very fine clothes at that, and spoke perfect English although with what sounded like a slight Swedish accent.

"Good morning." Hermione replied as she stifled a yawn. "What time is it?"

"It is ten o clock miss, Master has asked that I bring you some tea and wake you if you weren't up by now."

"Oh well thank you um, sorry I'm afraid I don't know your name."

"I am Lika the head elf here at the Manor."

"Ah well then thank you Lika" She said cheerily.

"Does miss require anything else?"

Come to think of it she was in need of quite a few answers but she thought she'd settle on the most important.

"Yes, would you be able to tell me where Mr Malfoy is?"

"Master said he must leave to complete an important task but said that he would be back by 12, he requests that you stay until his return and that I offer you anything you may require."

She wondered where he had gone and in fact why he would leave her mostly unsupervised in his home but she supposed she could find out later.

"Oh right well I guess I'll have to wait then, thank you for the tea."

Lika nodded in thanks and then with a snap of her fingers was gone. Hermione swung her legs down to the floor and it was then that she realised that she wasn't wearing shoes. She didn't remember taking them off and the only logical conclusion was that Lucius had but that shouldn't be a logical answer should it, he was a monster who hated her, why should he care if she was comfortable or not?

She couldn't believe she'd come here last night but she remembered the feeling she got when he'd come across her last night, it was like everything inside her had lit up and she hadn't been able to stop the smile that came to her face. Even though they had barely talked she had been so content just being with him, thinking back on it now it seemed no surprise that she had felt relaxed enough to fall asleep. Trying not to think about why that was she picked up her tea and made her way over to the window.

A heavy frost had fallen over the garden and made it look exquisite, there was a long pond running through a pristine lawn which had a fountain in the centre. From the window she could see that it was a woman with a snake coiled around her naked body as she poured water into the pond, it looked deadly and beautiful at the same time.

Transfixed by the garden she continued to sip her tea and look out at the hedgerows and flowers that seem to spread as far as she could see until she felt the all too familiar call of nature and thought aloud "I wonder where Lika's gone?"

Within seconds of her asking Lika appeared "Is there something I can help you with Miss?" She enquired.

It took a moment for Hermione to respond as she was so astounded that the elf had responded so quickly. "Oh yes would you be able to show me where the bathroom is?"

"Of course, follow me."

Lika lead her though the manor until opening the door to the largest bathroom Hermione had ever seen. The room was made of what looked like a black marble and when she looked closely it seemed to be ingrained with veins of emerald green_. Or Slytherin green_ she thought to herself as she noticed yet more snakes making an appearance, this time wound round the large columns which surrounded the huge bath in the centre of the room which looked very enticing.

As if she had read her mind Lika handed Hermione a fluffy white towel and a toothbrush before telling her to call if she needed anything and with that she was gone again. Hermione filled the bath and it appeared to be enchanted as once it was full a layer of bubbles appeared which seemingly could not be popped.

As she waited for it to cool a little she noticed the large picture on the wall which was surrounded by an intricate black frame. It showed a live version of the statue she had seen in the garden but it was very different to what she would have imagined. Instead of shying away from the monstrous white snake the mermaid was welcoming, smiling as it tightly wrapped itself around her and arching her neck as it crept over her shoulder. She thought it was curious but as she watched the scene play out several times she saw that although the snake looked ominous that it was actually very gentle towards the woman and seemed to pose no threat, not to mention conveniently protecting her modesty.

She lowered herself into the water and sighed as the warmth spread through her. It was big enough to fit at least 7 people and deep enough to swim in but Hermione was content to just lean against the edge and relax as she mulled over the night again.

She could deny it no longer that she liked being with Lucius and that every time he touched her or even looked at her she felt a spark of excitement. She knew it wasn't how she should feel but that was how it was and as she closed her eyes it was his face she saw and voice she heard.

Without realising it her hand made its way downwards and she began to softly stroke her sex. She was surprised to find herself wet and started to rub her clit in a slow but hard, even rhythm as the thought of Lucius filled her head. After a couple of minutes she slipped two fingers inside herself causing her to gasp at the welcome intrusion as she gently began to move them. She could feel that she was close to the edge and she moved her fingers deeper and faster and just as she could feel her walls begin to flutteraround them there was a brisk knock on the door.

* * *

"Come in. "A shaky voice replied a couple of moments later.

"Good morning Miss Granger, I have some good news for you." He said as he closed the door behind him, effortlessly covering his initial shock at walking in to find her in the bath, he was a gentleman after all and would try to act as such.

"Sorry I thought you were Lika." Hermione replied as she blushed slightly and sunk a little lower into the water, lucky for her the bubbles were charmed and completely covered her body.

"I can come back later?"

"No no it's fine, what's the news?" He could tell she wanted to protect her modesty but it said a great deal about the shift in their relationship that she would let him stay. She was starting to trust him.

"I was running some errands in town this morning when I overheard a conversation between two somewhat unsavoury characters only to find that they were discussing the auction you are so interested in."

"And?!" She exclaimed excitedly, sitting up ever so slightly and revealing the top of her breasts.

He quickly wrenched his gaze back to her face hoping that she hadn't noticed his indiscretion or the lust which he was sure had momentarily been swimming in his eyes.

"They weren't particularly good at keeping their voices down and as such I now know the password to uncover the location and date." He said with a triumphant edge to his voice. She didn't need to know that the whole reason he had gone out this morning was to find it for her and that he'd had to go to some pretty far lengths to find out, for some reason he just wanted to make her happy.

"Oh Lucius that's great news! Thank you so much! We must try it straight away." She said and in her haste to try the password she practically leaped out of the bath seemingly forgetting Lucius' presence. As she locked eyes with him she quickly realised her error and immediately covered herself with her arms and turned her back to him.

"Merlin, sorry I forgot-" but she was cut off when suddenly Lucius walked up behind her and wrapped a towel around her. He smiled to himself as he felt her shudder slightly as he placed his hand on her shoulder, arching into his touch. He leaned down close next to her ear and said in a husky voice "It is quite alright _Hermione_, I do not mind one bit."

And with that he left the room smiling to himself, she had shown him herself in a vulnerable position and he had returned the favour by calling her for the first time by her name. He knew she was stunning, he'd spent enough time with her this last week to see that but if the tightness he was feeling in his boxers was anything to go by he'd clearly discovered that his feelings towards her had extended beyond that of friendship.

* * *

Once she had recovered from her embarrassment, and not to mention her arousal, she had put on some fresh robes Lika had left for her and gone to find Lucius in the library. They had tried the password 'Mandrake' with great success but unfortunately for them found out that the auction was to be held that evening.

Hermione had come up with several plans within minutes but Lucius had poked holes in all of them and offered up one of his own. It turned out that the password wasn't the only thing he had found whilst he was running 'errands'.

He said that he had been doing his inspection of Borgin and Burke as his last trip had been somewhat disrupted when he had saved Hermione and whilst there had come across a small vial of polyjuice. He had seemed reluctant to give it to her, even though it would mean he didn't owe her anything anymore, and suggested that a fresh batch would be more effective for the other case and that they should use it for the plan tonight instead. His idea was that she would polyjuice herself into someone and join him whose presence would go unquestioned at the auction and they would confront the sellers of the eggs or perhaps even buy them.

Hermione agreed to use the potion now instead of for Andromeda's case, this was more urgent after all and she didn't really like the idea of not having a reason to see Lucius any more. After she decided she wouldn't want to sully anyone's reputation by using any old wizard's hair or a less reputable one in fear that someone might try and pick a fight with her or in fact be there themselves they decided to use one of Narcissa's. Although they were divorced it wouldn't raise any suspicion if Lucius was seen with her again and it would be easy for them to get a hold of one. It had taken a little time to persuade Lucius who had been reluctant at first, his split from Narcissa had been fairly easy as both of them decided that they both had love for Draco but no longer for each other but it would still be hard seeing her face after all this time.

Hermione knew she should tell Harry about the auction, there were so many people that could be arrested and dark items to be confiscated but she wanted to do some investigation of her own without all the aurors around. She tried to deny it but she still didn't want Harry to see her with Lucius but decided it was because he would probably try to arrest him and Hermione couldn't let that happen. She decided she would tell him about it but that it started an hour later than it did, that would give her enough time to investigate but still let the aurors do their job.

They retrieved the hair from one of Narcissa's old brushes and after Hermione had owled Harry with the details they went over their plan and made arrangements until the time came for them to leave. Hermione still used her little beaded bag and was glad she had brought it with her; she always liked to have it with her when she did things like this and made sure before they left that she had some healing potions and some peruvian instant darkness powder for if she lost her wand again and needed to escape. Despite Lucius being with her she didn't want a repeat of what had happened last week.

All day Hermione had been trying not to think about what had happened between them earlier in the bathroom and how much, for some reason, she wished it had gone further. They had sat together on the sofa as they had discussed what they would do and it was as if sparks flew through her every time his leg so much as brushed her own and she could never bring herself to move hers away.

She knew she shouldn't be feeling this way but there was no doubt that she was. She told herself that it was purely lust, he was exceedingly attractive and the fact that he had been a death eater seemed to thrill her even more. It didn't help that every time he looked at her she could see his eyes darken and the corner of his mouth turn up in a smug smile.

Once the clock struck seven Hermione changed into some of Narcissa's robes and took the potion which tasted surprisingly nice for polyjuice, a little like sherbet lemons. Hermione looked at herself in a mirror and was shocked to see how elegant she looked, Narcissa's blonde hair and impressive bone structure making her a beauty to behold.

"Hm, you know what's strange." Lucius chuckled as he looked at her. "I never really liked blonde women."

After rolling her eyes at him she offered out her hand and apparated them just outside the auctions location. It was being held in an old abandoned estate up in Scotland and the building was so big and bright that Hermione could only assume that they had put anti-muggle and concealment charms up even though they were in the middle of nowhere.

They started to walk up to the entrance together towards where some witches were checking fliers when Lucius put his arm around her waist pulling her tightly towards him.

Leaning down to her ear again he said "Wouldn't want them to suspect you weren't really my ex-wife now would we." His breath tickling her neck as his thumb lazily stroked her waist causing her breath to catch.

She didn't know what came over her but before she knew what she was doing she turned her head and taking his chin between her fingers and tilting his head down to her own she kissed him lightly, lingering perhaps a little too long on his lips.

"No we couldn't have that could we." She smirked as she led a now slightly stunned Lucius up towards the house.


	9. Developments

**Sorry for the long wait for this one. Lot's of university deadlines and admittedly a slight lack of motivation but hopefully this chapter will make up for it. Next one should be out soon since I can't wait to write it.**

* * *

For a moment he was, for once in his life, lost for words. She'd just kissed him and even though she had Narcissa's face he could tell it was her, the way she stayed for longer than was necessary and how she smiled against his lips.

He should feel wrong shouldn't he, it went against every principle he had been brought up to hold but he supposed that none of that mattered to him any more, all he wanted now was her. It had started to become obvious to him throughout the day that it wasn't just lust that he felt for her. She was a smart, courageous and beautiful witch who seemed to understand him, forced him to be a better person, intrigued and excited him and it made him smile to himself that clearly his feelings were, at least to an extent, reciprocated.

The witches at the gates were about to ask them for their fliers as proof of invitation but upon seeing him with who they thought to be Narcissa they let them pass without question. It still satisfied him when people reacted that way to him, the fear and respect they had for him never failed to make him happy. He couldn't help but wonder how it would affect both his and Hermione's life if they were to ever actually be seen together, if people would react to them the same way they did now, with respect for each of them but for entirely different reasons. Fear of him and awe of her.

He was broken from his thoughts when someone tapped him on the shoulder from behind and he turned to see Antonin Dolohov standing in front of them.

* * *

She turned to see a familiar face but at first couldn't quite place it, the man had a thick beard and wore a dark heavy hood but as Lucius grip around her waist tightened and he pulled her protectively closer she realised that the man before her was an old death eater – Dolohov.

"Lucius, Narcissa, how long has it been? I must say that I didn't expect to see you here." He said in a surprisingly civil voice.

"Dolohov." Lucius greeted with a nod "I'm happy to see you have still managed to elude capture" He joked "I don't suppose you're here for the artwork like us are you?" Lucius covered without hesitation, his ability to sound so confident and work so quickly impressing Hermione.

"Ha! No of course not, you know that's never been my thing, here picking up something…special." He said although stopping himself before he could disclose more than that, seemingly remembering that Lucius was still under the Ministries thumb. "I thought you two had split up, how come you're here together?" He questioned casually but Hermione could tell there was an underlying tone of suspicion to what he said. As much as she'd like to believe he was thick she supposed one didn't make his way to the top of Voldemort's ranks without a little intelligence so she would have to play her part well to avoid causing any trouble.

"Well with Christmas coming up we wanted to get Draco something together and I've always had a better eye for these sorts of things than Lucius so we thought it best that we both came along." Hermione said in a tone she hoped matched the confidence of Lucius', counting on Dolohov not know that what she had just said was most likely a lie since Lucius was an expert at anything to do with art.

"Ha I'm not surprised." Dolohov barked with a laugh causing Hermione to smile with relief that her lie had worked. "No wonder you tried so hard to find out where this was happening Lucius, wouldn't want to lose favour with Draco to Narcissa now would you."

"Of course not." Lucius said smoothly although he had stiffened at his words. "As pleasant as it is to see you again, we must go and take a look around, we wouldn't want to miss out on anything good." He said in his most polite tone which was subtly laced with disdain, similar to that he used when talking to the politicians at the Ministry.

"Ah yes it's quite busy today isn't it, don't let me keep you…hopefully we will see each other again soon Lucius." He replied politely, clearly not sharp enough to pick up on Lucius' abrupt dismissal of him. "A pleasure to see you as always Narcissa." He said as he kissed her knuckles causing Lucius to clench his hand on her waist into a fist. "Lucius." He nodded with a sly smile and with that he was gone and Hermione let out a breath she didn't realise she had been holding.

"You played that well." Lucius whispered in her ear as he led her away. "I had not anticipated that we would see anyone who would actually come and talk to us."

"Oh so you don't keep up with anyone from your old crowd since the war?" She questioned carefully, her interest peaked as she tried to uncover more about what Lucius was really like these days. She'd seen glimpses but he kept his feelings and thoughts well protected so even with her investigative skills it was hard to tell.

"No, if it wasn't obvious I have tried to move away from that part of my life, not to mention that with the Ministry breathing down my neck it would be practically impossible even if I wanted to, I try to only interact with people like…that, only when it is completely necessary."

"You mean like when you want to find out something?" Hermione said in a knowing tone, Dolohov's remark about Lucius trying to find the auctions location not going unnoticed. She couldn't quite believe it when he said it but by the sounds of it Lucius had gone out of his way to find this information for her. She smiled to think at how typical it was of him to be too proud to admit that he'd actually done something nice for her let alone put any effort into it.

"Yes well, I was curious so I may have…persuaded someone into enlightening me as to the password required to find out where this event would be occurring." He said stiffly, his discomfort at her discovering what he'd done visible only in the slight creases around his eyes as he tried not to frown.

Giggling slightly at how serious he looked when he tried to hide how he was feeling Hermione leaned up and kissed him softly on the cheek "Thank you Lucius" she said against his ear and revelled in the way she was able to make a slight colour come to his face. She decided that she really liked being in Narcissa's form because it allowed her to do what she wanted to Lucius without feeling guilty because as far as anyone else could see, today she was his wife (well ex-wife but still).

"Now let's go find those eggs." She said as they began to make their way further into the house, not missing the smug smile that was showing in the corner of Lucius' lips.

They wandered through the various large rooms filled with a multitude of things for sale from books on dark magic to creatures Hermione hadn't even encountered during her old job. She probably would have missed the wizard levitating a dragon egg right past her head if it wasn't for Lucius vigilantly scanning the room by her side. The wizard disappeared into the back room being used for the items being sold in the main auction so they followed him in quickly, wands at the ready.

The eggs were partially blocked by people and although she couldn't count them all Hemrione could definitely see an Ironbelly and Hebridean egg so figured this had to be the ones stolen from Charlie, you didn't find Ironbellys just anywhere after all.

"My my, what exquisite eggs you have here." Lucius drawled as he approached the small group of wizards surrounding the eggs, his voice dripping with a tone only those with the finest taste would possess.

The group turned around with expressions varying from grumpy and bored to suspicious and wary on their faces but all were quickly replaced with business like smiles once they saw who stood before them.

A somewhat short witch pushed her way past the group of wizards, her long dark hair swaying behind her as she approached them "Mr and Mrs Malfoy, what an honour it is to meet you both." She greeted with a sickening smile "To what do we owe this pleasure?"

"We couldn't help but see you bringing one of these beautiful eggs back here and we simply had to come and see them for ourselves." Lucius replied in his most flattering voice. "I'm presuming you're selling them off in the auction today?"

"You presume correctly Mr Malfoy, we always get better prices when there's bidding." She said as she looked him up and down, not hiding her blatant admiration of his form particularly well and Hermione suddenly found herself feeling a spark of jealousy towards the witch who she now noticed was actually rather attractive.

"Although…if you're interested I'm sure we could come to an arrangement, we've already got one on hold for someone else so if you're willing to pay…" She said in a suggestive tone as she stepped closer and placed her hand on Lucius' arm.

"You've already sold one?" Hermione asked in her own voice, momentarily forgetting her charade but fortunately the witch had been so absorbed in Lucius she had barely registered her presence let alone the tone of her voice.

"Yes we have, and for quite a price at that." The witch said triumphantly, managing to maintain her confidence as she quickly removed her hand from Lucius' person as he scowled at her "Should be here to collect it any minute now."

"Which one's already gone then?" Hermione asked casually, this time sounding much more like Narcissa.

"This beauty in here" She said as she opened a chest to reveal a large smooth yellow egg which Hermione recognised at once as the egg the man from Borgin's had talked about. "Now isn't that something special."

"Is it a mutation? It doesn't look much like a dragon egg to me" Lucius asked in a more disinterested tone than usual, somewhat taking the witch by surprise. Hermione knew it was his way of getting her to tell him what she knew, if he sounded unimpressed she was more likely to tell him.

"We're not sure what it is but it's definitely a dragon, nothing else lays eggs this colour or this hard." She said as she knocked the egg with her fist.

"Could be a Horntail" Hermione interjected "Their eggs are notoriously hard."

"That's a good point, but the colour is all wrong, Hungarians have grey eggs." Lucius mused as he took a step closer to the egg, trying to get a better look. Before he could get close however the witch shut the chest and to her credit only cringed slightly when she saw the look on Lucius' face.

"I'm sorry but my clients will be here any minute and I can't risk anything happening to this egg, their paying a fortune for it and I didn't go to all the effort of getting it for nothing."

"Where did you get it?" Hermione asked, this was the perfect opportunity to find out if these where the eggs Charlie was missing and she wasn't about to miss it.

"Snagged them when they were leaving for Romania, some drunken old man wouldn't stop going on about being privileged enough to see them before they went off and one of my girls couldn't help but overhear."

"Slughorn…" Hermione whispered under her breath.

"What?" The witch questioned.

"I was just thinking what good luck you had."

"Oh yeah it's not usually that easy to intercept those missions but that guy even told her where it was happening and everything." She laughed "But anyway, are you interested in buying one?"

"I'm afraid I would have great difficulty hiding a dragon even on my estate so I think we will have to pass." Lucius declined.

"Yes I think we will have to stick to the ornamental variety." Hermione agreed.

"Suit yourself." The witch said as she waved them off, clearly too proud to try and persuade them.

They moved off into the corner of the room where they couldn't be overheard and discussed what they ought to do next.

* * *

"How long until the aurors get here?" Lucius asked. He really didn't want them showing up early, if they saw him he'd have a hard time coming up with a legitimate reason for being here because he certainly wasn't going to tell the truth.

He knew no one would believe him, most people would think he'd used the imperious curse on her and he admitted he'd prefer that than have them think badly of Hermione. He laughed to himself at that thought, fancy being worried about her being seen with him, only a few years ago, well weeks ago really, he wouldn't have dared to be seen with a muggle-born, especially the most famous one of them all.

"We've got about ten minutes."

"What do you think we should do?"

"Let's wait, see who comes for this mysterious egg and if the aurors arrive before that we'll apparate."

Lucius nodded and lead them to a bench that was slightly concealed by a stall selling rare feathers but still gave them a clear view of the eggs. Hermione sat next to him and although there was ample room for both of them she chose to sit close and he couldn't resist the urge to take her hand in his own. Out of the corner of his eye he saw her start to turn and look at him but stopped herself and instead held his hand a little tighter, intertwining her fingers with his own as she brought her attention back to the eggs.

Luckily for them only a minute passed before the buyers turned up and he admitted he wasn't surprised to see that one of them was Dolohov, the other Avery. Avery looked worse than Dolohov, the years on the run clearly taking a greater toll on him. He had once been quite an intelligent man but lacked any confidence or skill at leadership so it didn't surprise Lucius that he was still following around other death eaters like a lost dog.

The transaction was quick and instead of leaving the way they came, the pair began to walk towards the door near where Lucius and Hermione were sat. He really didn't want to start talking to them again, the aurors would be here any minute and if they just apparated then and there they would know something was up. Hermione came to a solution quicker than he did and leaned up to kiss him. This time he was more prepared for it and considering it was likely to stop Dolohov and Avery from interrupting them he thought he should make it look, well, uninterruptable.

He deepened the kiss, moving his hand to her neck and parting her lips with his tongue. She let out a quiet but low moan as she scraped her teeth along his tongue, her own hand now intertwined in his hair. Their kiss was broken far too early by the sharp sound of Avery's laugh and Lucius looked up to find him hovering over them.

"Looks like getting divorced did you two quite a lot of good doesn't it Lucius." He barked.

"Your timing is impeccable as ever Avery." Lucius said, malice lining his calm tone as he stood to his full height, now towering over the two men. Hermione stood to join him but not as close as before, the red in her cheeks showing her embarrassment at being caught. Lucius almost missed it since it was hard for him to look at anything other than her now slightly swollen lips.

"I think we might be heading back to the manor now." Lucius said briskly.

"I'm sure you are." Dolohov replied in a not so subtle way as he shot Lucius a wink.

"Lovely to see you again Narcissa." Avery said as he shook Hemrione's hand.

Suddenly they heard cracks of apparation and screams from the next room and Lucius realised the aurors must have arrived. Dolohov was first to go, egg in hand, and Lucius was about to reach for Hermione's arm but before his eyes Avery disappeared, his hand still holding Hermione's.

His heart dropped as he realised that she was gone too.


	10. A Close Call

She only realised what was happening when it was too late and now here she was, in a dark wood in Merlin knows where with a death eater. She still had her wand and her beaded bag so that was lucky but she couldn't really just apparate straight away could she, it would look far too suspicious.

As much as she hated to admit it she cared about Lucius and she didn't want to give his old comrades any reason to go after him. They probably believed he was still on their side, any maybe he was, and that he was only putting up with the ministry to save himself from Azkaban. Finding out he was spending his time with one of Harry Potters best friends, a muggle-born no less, would definitely change that and as she glanced at her watch realised that Avery would be finding out very soon if she didn't leave quickly.

"Oh shit Narcissa I didn't mean to bring you with me, you're not splinched are you?" said Avery and although his words showed concern his tone did not. "We wouldn't want a repeat of what happened to you in Bulgaria now would we."

"Definitely not." She said with a nervous laugh.

He smiled but his face quickly dropped and his wand twitched in his hand " What a curious coincidence, it was Mcnair who was splinched in Bulgaria wasn't it, how strange that the exact same thing happened to you."

She began to panic, he knew, the bloody bastard knew something was up. She needed to come up with a plan and fast. She could apparate away right now but he could easily shoot a spell at her before that but surprisingly her primary concern was Lucius. She somehow needed to move any blame away from him but the only way she could do it was by shifting the attention to herself.

"You surprise me Avery, I'd always heard you weren't the brightest bulb in the box."

He initially looked confused, his unfamiliarity with the muggle phrase obvious but he must have concluded that it was an insult as she shot a stinging jinx towards her. She deflected it easily, thankful that the war had made her a more than proficient dueller.

"How did you realise I was an imposter?" She questioned in a casual tone. If she maintained an air of confidence and calm the situation was much less likely to get out of hand.

"Your eyes were the only thing that gave you away, Narcissa always looked a little dead, as if the only way she could talk to us was by supressing everything she felt towards us, but yours, no yours were full of hate. " He said as he spat across the floor, a habit that Hermione had always despised.

"Hm, well I commend you on your observations, Lucius didn't even pick up on it." She added, determined to remove any suspicion of his involvement.

"I always knew I was smarter than him, never knew why he was favoured more by the dark lord than I was." He mumbled to himself and Hermione had to supress a scoff that this man genuinely thought he was anything like Lucius.

"How is it you managed to impersonate Narcissa? And why? Who are you anyway?" He asked, clearly not intelligent enough to work that out was he.

"Oh it was easy enough." She mused as she began to pace slowly away from him to lean against a tree "I discovered that Narcissa would be coming here with Lucius tonight and managed to intercept her and using a little veritaserum found out where they were meeting."

She was starting to feel the tell-tale bubbling that indicated that the potions effects were wearing off and was having to try pretty hard now to maintain her composure.

"But why impersonate her?" He questioned impatiently, wand still trained on her.

"I needed to get into the auction without raising suspicion and this seemed the perfect way, what could be better than being someone that everyone would notice, but most would ignore thanks to the man on her arm." She lied effortlessly.

"I can't believe Lucius fell for it, what a fool, I knew he'd never paid enough attention to Narcissa, any good husband would know whether or not someone was really his wife."

Oh now this was interesting, it seemed Avery held a bit of a flame for Narcissa, that was good, his feelings would hopefully stop him from working out Lucius was involved.

He was mumbling to himself now but as her foot caused a twig to break he returned his attention to her. "Why did you need to get into the auction? It was you who tipped off the aurors wasn't it" He accused.

She was having a bit of a dilemma about answering that one. On one hand she really didn't want to give away her identity but she still wanted to find out about the eggs, she hoped the aurors would retrieve the other six but she wasn't one to not finish a job. That said she didn't want to reveal her identity so saying outright that she'd been asked to track them down wasn't an option.

"Maybe I was after that egg you bought" She suggested but didn't sound as confident as she would have liked as she noticed the ends of her blonde hair slowly begin to turn brunette.

"Yeah right, Lestrange is the only one who knows what's in that egg so I don't see why you'd have any interest in it."

"Lestrange?" At first she thought of Bellatrix but realised he must be referring to Rodolphus or his brother and was surprised to find out that there were yet more death eaters involved in this.

"Damn it." He mumbled which caused Hermione to roll her eyes as she'd always thought that if you had something to say you should say it clearly. "You got me talking, aren't you clever, now I've let on a little too much, I think it's time to get rid of you now." He said with a crazed smile as he made his way towards her.

He shot the first hex but Hermione was expecting it and dodged whilst sending a counter curse of her own. He deflected it and shot another but it hit the tree she was now hiding behind. They exchanged a few more spells but Hermione knew she would be back to looking like herself in only a matter of seconds so knew she had to finish this quickly. She shot a spell at a loose branch above his head and it came crashing down on him, seemingly knocking him out and his wand from his hand.

Once she was certain it was safe she stepped out from behind the tree to grab his wand and checked his pockets for anything that might give her some clues as to Dolohov and the eggs location. She found nothing of interest other than a very pretty purple maple leaf which she put in her bag and thought to herself how curious it was that a man like Avery would decide to keep it.

Luckily she had her phone on her, something she often wondered why more wizards didn't have, and managed to work out where she was. Despite wanting to go and find Lucius to tell him she was alright she thought she would go straight to the ministry to tell Harry where Avery was so that they could come and collect him. With a sigh of relief she flicked her wand to leave but the relief was short lived as just when she was starting to apparate away she saw Avery slowly lift his head from the ground and as his eyes locked on her heard the word "Granger."

* * *

Lucius had been in somewhat of a panic since Hermione had vanished. He knew he couldn't be seen at the auction so had apparated to the Manor gates in hope that Hermione would come straight back once she had realised the mistake. He had created a rough patch in the ground with his pacing by the time he decided it had been far too long and was stuck as to what to do next.

He had no idea where Avery would have gone and couldn't just go looking everywhere by himself. What he needed was the help of the aurors but then he was presented with the problem of them not believing his story and probably arresting him.

If only there was someone close to Hermione, someone with influence in the auror department who might listen to him long enough to hear him out and…ah. As much as he hated the man who had ruined (and in some ways saved) his life he realised his only hope here was to go and see the infernally infamous Harry Potter.

He instructed Lika to alert him if Hermione returned and made his way to the ministry through the floo system. It was usually eerily quiet in the ministry after hours but he noticed as he quickly strode through the atrium that tonight there were quite a few witches and wizards bustling about the corridors, presumably due to the raid at the auction.

Although he received a few suspicious and scornful looks he managed to make his way to Harry's office without any incidents, even the security at the auror department accepted his story about having important information for Mr Potter without too much of an issue.

He was about to knock on the door when he heard a sound that caused him to sigh with relief. Hermione's voice.

* * *

"OK Hermione, tell me what happened." Harry said as he handed her a hot cup of tea.

She lied, she had to but she felt bad about it, he was her best friend but some things she knew he just wouldn't understand, she barely understood them herself.

The aurors had gone to collect Avery as soon as she got back but had told her he had managed to escape despite her taking his wand and although annoying that he got away (she knew she should have stunned him for good measure) it meant that it would be easier to make something up.

She told him that she'd gone disguised to the auction to try and discover more about the eggs just in case the aurors didn't get there in time and that Avery had recognised her and apparated away with her. She recounted how they had battled just in case they checked her wand to validate the story and that she'd knocked him out and escaped. Harry was angry that she'd put herself at risk like that but she thought it was a small price to pay for him to believe her story.

"Well for now I think you're going to have to go to a safe house, they know it was you and I wouldn't be surprised if they came after you."

"Don't you think that's a bit extreme." She started, the idea of being locked away in some random house not appealing to her at all, it would be impossible for her work, not to mention seeing Lucius, if she wasn't allowed out.

"Well just during the night at least, I reckon you'll be safe enough here at the ministry doing your work but it won't be hard for them to find out where you live."

"I suppose you're right." She conceded, trying not to sound too angry about being treated like someone who couldn't defend themselves. "But where do you think I should go?" She questioned dubiously.

"Well it would be obvious if you stayed with me or the Weasleys or really anyone you know for that matter so we should probably use someone from the ministries programme."

"Surely if we do that though it wouldn't be that difficult for them to find out who I was with, I wouldn't be surprised if there was still a friend or two of theirs working here."

"As much as I don't want to believe that I think you're right, we'll just have to think of ones we know of and contact them secretly ourselves, the question is who."

Before they could come up with anyone their conversation was interrupted by a crisp knock on the door and in walked the solution to their problem, cane in hand.

* * *

He entered the room to see Hermione with a subtle smile on her lips and Potter looking somewhat bewildered at his presence.

"Miss Granger" He greeted in a way he hoped conveyed his feelings of relief at seeing her alright, "Mr Potter" He nodded.

"What are you doing here at this time of night Malfoy? " Harry questioned, he sounded frustrated but not harsh. It was in fact a good question since his reason for coming here was now obsolete and he wondered why he had even come in now that he knew Hermione was safe.

"I asked him here" Hermione interjected "I forgot to mention it but earlier this afternoon I bumped into Mr Malfoy in Diagon Alley."

"Quite literally actually" Lucius added in an annoyed tone, he wasn't sure where she was going with this but he thought he ought to play along, even if it did involve her reverting back to calling him Mr Malfoy.

"Yes, I really should stop reading and walking." She joked with ease, he was starting to believe her story himself it sounded so natural. "Well anyway we got talking and - "

"Since when do you two talk?" Harry interrupted suspiciously.

"I have aided Miss Granger on several of her cases and it turns out we have quite a lot in common." Lucius stated simply.

"Yes and as I was saying" Hermione continued as she shot Harry a look for being rude "He noticed the book I was reading and it reminded him that he had leant me a similar one which I had yet to return, so he escorted me home in order to retrieve the book and to pick out one of mine."

"Where are you going with this?" Harry asked exasperatedly. Good question thought Lucius.

"Well when I was about to leave for the auction he was still in my library and left just before I apparated and when I got to the auction there he was again, with Narcissa in the middle of the house in completely different attire."

Once he realised what she was doing he could truly believe why she was called the brightest witch of her age. She was managing to explain Lucius' presence in Harry's office and moving any blame away from him if any of the people arrested at the auction said they saw him there, she really was an impressive woman.

"So let me get this straight, someone was at the auction impersonating Mr Malfoy here, is that what you're saying?"

"Well that's what I thought; it's why I sent for him to come here, to explain himself before any false accusations were made."

"Yes I was most distressed at the news, I am most grateful that Miss Granger informed me straight away as I would so hate to have my name dragged through the mud again after all these years." Lucius said and was surprised at how genuine he managed to sound.

Harry looked dubious but found no real reason to object to Hermione's story, she was after all a close friend to him and despite not wanting to believe that she and Lucius were on talking terms he could definitely see how they could be.

"Well that's curious, do you think someone was impersonating Narcissa as well?"

"Most likely, I happen to know that Draco is visiting her in Italy this week and I see no reason why she would go to something like that these days." Lucius said. He and Narcissa were divorced but he wouldn't have her name dragged through the dirt more than he had already caused it to be in his past.

"Hm well I guess we'll have to look into that, thank you Mr Malfoy for coming in but Hermione and I have some important business to discuss." Harry said politely but with a slightly spiteful edge to his voice, it was obvious he would have enjoyed having a reason to put Lucius on trial again.

Lucius bid them goodbye as courteously as he could manage and was about to close the door when quite unexpectedly Harry called him back in.

"Yes Mr Potter?"

"Mr Malfoy, your home is on the ministries safe house list right?" Harry asked with a slight glint in his eyes.

"Unfortunately it is, why?" Lucius asked, his eyebrow raised.

"Hermione, would you be willing to stay at Malfoy Manor for a while until we catch these guys, I know you might feel uncomfortable going there but they really would never look for you there and since Lucius is already here we could organise it straight away."

Lucius couldn't quite believe what was happening, he wasn't sure why but for some reason Hermione required a safe house, something bad must have happened with Avery. He had been thinking about his excuses for seeing her again after their little escapade but having her staying in his home would remove that problem entirely. How funny it was that it was Mr Potter that was helping him out, even if he didn't realise what he was doing.

"Well it makes sense." Hermione said somewhat less enthusiastically than Lucius would have liked.

"And you're sure you won't mind being there, I mean, after what happened to you there?"

That's when it dawned on him why she might have reservations about it, as much as he tried to burn the memory of the night she was tortured from his mind he could still remember it as if it had just happened. It was when he'd finally realised how low he'd sunk, how much he had let down his family, what a coward he had truly become and he shuddered slightly at the thought.

"Mr Malfoy." Potter said loudly as he tried to get Lucius' attention back, clearly he had been a little too distracted.

"Yes, sorry."

"Would you be able to take Hermione there tonight?"

"Of course, shall we go now Miss Granger if you have nothing left to discuss?"

"Yes lets." She agreed as she got up and after bidding her farewell to Harry they left his office.

Once alone outside they didn't say anything to each other, for some reason they didn't have to. Hermione slipped her arms around his waist and pulling her tightly against him he apparated them away just before a certain red head turned round the corner, oblivious to everything that was happening.


	11. Coward

Lucius had been unable to get to sleep since Hermione and he had returned from the ministry, and not for the reasons he may have hoped. As he noticed the first signs of sunlight begin to seep through the bottom of his curtains he rolled over with a groan, burying his head into his black silk sheets.

They had discussed the evening's events over warm cups of tea in the library, gone over every detail, discovery and idea but both had avoided any mention of what had transpired between them.

It had started as an act for him but his actions at the auction were clearly driven by his now seemingly constant urge to be near her, to feel her pressed tightly up against him. At first she had responded better than he could have hoped for, but as they had sat together that evening, as far apart as the furniture would allow, she had not once looked him in the eye.

Why was it she was reacting this way? He was sure that she wanted him too, and as a man who was used to getting what he wanted he was struggling to comprehend what was happening.

It was only when on his way to bed and he walked past the locked up room where she had been tortured that he started to understand.

He himself had reservations about how he felt. It went against everything he had ever known to feel this way for her. She should be his enemy, he should despise even being in the same room as the woman who had caused him so much pain and anger. From the first time Draco came home complaining that he was only second best in his classes to the time that her efforts with Potter in the department of mysteries had him thrown in Azkaban, he had always held a special place of hatred just for her. He recognised however, that what he had to overcome must be nothing to what must be running through that brilliant mind of hers.

To her he must represent everything she had fought to destroy, everything that had ever caused her and her friends pain. Speaking of her friends, he could imagine that even the idea that they talked to each other was unimaginable, evident from Potter's reaction that evening, so anything more would probably cause a great rift between them.

He decided that if he wanted her, and he undeniably did, then he would have to play the waiting game and he had spent the night making his plan. She was staying in his home and she still needed to wait a week for the polyjuice potion from him so he wouldn't lack any opportunities to see her, to change her mind.

His plan would be to let her see that he wasn't a monster by being the prefect and helpful gentleman, a part he knew all too well how to play. In truth, it would be easy for him because he genuinely wanted to be nice (even thinking the word made him twitch a little) to the witch who since coming into his life had made it better than it had been in years.

Once she had warmed to him he would try and reignite the flame between them which had been so apparent the evening before. Something he realised he might struggle to restrain himself from doing sooner if it weren't for his job at Hogwarts keeping him busy for most of the week.

Happy with his new understanding and future plans for the situation Lucius finally managed to fall to sleep just as Lika brought in his morning pot of tea. Instead of greeting her master as usual she apparated quickly away when a low growl started to come from the uncharacteristically dishevelled mess of blonde hair on the bed.

* * *

Hermione awoke that morning determined to tell Lucius that what had happened between them last night had all been a big mistake. However, she decided against it when she actually found him.

He was sitting at the long table in the dining room and acted like a perfect gentleman. He informed her that Lika had gone to fetch her things from her house and that she was welcome to go wherever she pleased in the house, well, almost everywhere. Apparently there were some rooms that were locked due to lingering dark magic and bad memories from when the manor had had its 'visitors' all those years ago.

Lucius had behaved impeccably all morning, and Hermione found herself with little reason to have what would probably have been a very uncomfortable conversation with him, so happily bid him goodbye as he left for Hogwarts.

As much as she didn't want to admit her feelings which she had so foolishly acted on the night before she told herself that she just couldn't be that way with him. She feared what her friends would think of her, hated him for what he and his family had done to her and knew that all of his ideals were so far from what was right. Well, that's what she used to believe anyway.

Deep down she knew that the view she used to have of him had dramatically changed since she started spending time with him, but part of her kept telling her it would be wrong if she acted on the feelings she so clearly felt for him. Deciding she didn't want to think on it any more she thought it would be best to busy herself. She had a lot of work to do thanks to the new information from the auction so gathered her notes, which she happily found in neat piles in the large room Lucius had given her, and made her way to the Ministry.

On her desk there were at least ten letters from members of different departments commending and thanking her for her role in the raid, and even one from the Minister himself congratulating her on her efforts. She was always pleased to see some recognition for her hard work and couldn't help but smile to herself at her success.

Once she had read all the messages she began to make a start on the multitude of folders that were stacked in front of her. Over the weekend she had requested various documents to help her with her cases and now there were at least twenty that she could begin to go over.

She had only just opened the first page when there was a knock on her door and Charlie Weasley walked in beaming.

"You, Hermione Granger, are bloody incredible!" He practically shouted as he bound up to her desk.

"It has been said." Hermione replied as a sense of happiness spread through her, Charlie's smile always a little infectious.

"Not only did you get almost all my eggs back but you helped catch the guys who did it, you really are something." He said as he sat down opposite her, his long legs dangling over the arm of the chair.

"Sorry I didn't manage to retrieve all of them Charlie, I'm working on getting that last one back though." She said, trying to sound optimistic.

"Oh that odd yellow one? Can't say I'll miss it too much, never trust an egg you don't know I always say, but I bet Slughorn will be sad to hear it's gone."

"What do you mean? Why would Slughorn be sad?" She asked quickly, Slughorns name catching her attention. His role in this had been bothering her from the start but so far she hadn't been able to come up with a reason why.

"Well if I'm honest I wasn't really listening to him, you know how he blabbers on sometimes, but he seemed particularly taken with it, mumbled something about couldn't believe what he was seeing and started rambling on about newts or something."

"Newts? Are you sure that's what he said?"

"Yeah, and I think he mentioned salamanders too, but like I said, I wasn't really paying him much attention." He said casually as he started to fiddle with some of the ornaments on her desk, moving them from their perfectly positioned places.

Hermione couldn't work out what Slughorn could have been talking about and wished Charlie had been paying him more attention. The egg couldn't belong to a newt or a salamander so that wasn't it but she had a hunch that whatever he was saying was important and decided that she would have to go and ask Slughorn herself.

"Oh yeah!" Charlie said a little too loudly, shaking Hermione from her thoughts. "Ron wanted me to ask you if you're coming to our Christmas party on Sunday, he's been pestering me about asking you all week."

"Has he?" Hermione asked sceptically.

"Mhmm, he's practically mauled our poor owl every time she brings the post too."

In truth, Hermione had given the party very little thought, she'd been rather distracted lately with her work and when she hadn't been working her mind was more often than not thinking about Lucius.

"I don't know Charlie, wouldn't it be a bit awkward?"

"Nah, everybody's moved on, especially after Harry started to give them the cold shoulder for being like they were with you, he even stopped talking to Ginny for a while you know."

Hermione knew he'd stuck up for her but she had no idea it had gone that far, he really was one hell of a friend.

"Well, in that case I'll come then, it would be nice to get back on good terms with everyone again."

"Great!" Charlie exclaimed as he sprang up from the chair. "Right, I've got to go fill out the paperwork to get those eggs back before one of them hatches and wreaks havoc." He joked as he made his way to the door. "Thanks again Hermione, and see you at seven on Sunday!"

She smiled to herself as the door shut behind him, Charlie was always so cheerful and enthusiastic and she was grateful that he was helping her mend the broken friendship between her and his family.

After repositioning the ornaments Charlie had moved she got back to the work at hand, and tried not to think too much about why Ron was so keen that she came to their party.

* * *

Friday evening came around very slowly for Lucius. He had decided that this would be the appropriate time to try and shift their relationship from friends, or whatever it was they had become, to what he wished she would let them be.

He had been on his best behaviour all week and had learnt a lot more about Hermione and her life. She had told him many stories from her tumultuous past but she more often than not would stop herself before she began to tell a tale involving himself or Draco.

His good behaviour at home and the enormous amount of self-restraint he was having to employ had meant he was somewhat less than amicable to other people. His pesky students at Hogwarts had taken the worst of it, and he was glad to hear that they had dubbed him worse than Snape, something he took as a compliment.

This evening he sat in his library, a place that Hermione and he had got into the habit of meeting in, with two glasses and a bottle of his finest fire whiskey waiting on the table. Hermione always got back promptly, three hours after her shift had officially ended, at eight, and tonight was no different. She had started the week well it seemed and was very optimistic, even after one of the useless Weasley boys gave her what Lucius viewed as very unhelpful assistance. As the days wore on however her work, and seemingly her mood, had most definitely gotten worse. Therefore he was not so surprised to see her come in with a look of exhaustion and frustration on her face, poorly hidden behind what he surprisingly found himself hoping was a genuine smile at him.

He considered himself one of the best when it came to reading a person's face, but Hermione seemed to be on a par with him at schooling her own expressions so he was never quite sure what she was thinking. He was an accomplished legilimens so could easily delve into her mind if he truly wanted to know but he had always stopped himself, he wanted her to tell him how she felt freely. Even if he had wanted to he was fairly certain she would be able to stop him, her talents in so many things were truly extraordinary.

He had positioned the room with care before she came home. They typically sat by the fire where there were two arm chairs, one of which Hermione usually took, and a sofa. Today he had moved one of the chairs across the room to a small alcove making it appear that he had been reading there. The other he had placed a large pile of books on in the hope that she would sit on the sofa with him. It was big enough to comfortably seat three but none the less the proximity would hopefully help his cause.

To his delight she walked straight past the chair, not even stopping to contemplate moving the books even though it would have been easy with magic, and sat down next to him with a sigh.

"Another rough day?" He asked as he poured them both a drink.

"You have no idea. Every lead I followed up was useless and I seem to be getting no closer to finishing any of these cases." She said exasperatedly as she took a large swig of fire whiskey. Lucius would have been more impressed that she didn't flinch as the firey liquid inevitably burned its way down her throat but found that he simply felt sad. He had been avoiding it all week but he had found himself caring more and more about Hermione. When she laughed at something it made him smile, but now as he looked across to see the look of defeat and anguish on her face, he felt her pain inside himself.

"I confess that my week has not been much better than your own." He sighed wearily as he put his glass back on the table, not even the fire whiskey could make this ache within him go away.

"But you always seem in such good spirits Lucius? I have to admit that I've been a little surprised."

"Well so am I. It has been a while since I have in fact had something to be in good spirits about."

"What's changed?" She asked tentatively as she placed her hand on his arm, genuine concern, and was it apprehension, in her eyes. He wasn't sure if she honestly didn't realise the effect she had been having on him or whether she was seeking confirmation of it, the part of him he kept well hidden hoped it was the latter.

He looked down at her hand and then into her hazel eyes. Seeing the trust and kindness in them made a feeling of warmth spread through him which collected in his chest. It felt almost pleasant at first but as he continued to look into Hermione's eyes the feeling was replaced by a sharp and almost suffocating pain. His plans of simply seducing her were quickly gone as he realised what he now wanted, no, _needed._

She would be his. And once he had her he was never going to let her go.

The realisation made him feel vulnerable for the first time since Voldemort had died. He felt fear, a fear that she would leave him, a fear of rejection. _Coward!_ A voice inside him shouted. The name he had been called by so many but always most venomously by himself. He should tell her to leave, shut her out of her life. It would be easiest, surely it would be the best thing for both of them. The thought made his chest tighter, the pain more intense. _No_, he told himself, you are not going to be a coward any more.

He brought his hand up to cup the side of her face and slowly but purposefully leant down and kissed her, his lips softly brushing hers. The kiss was quick but meaningful and he pulled back, his lips now hovering just over hers.

"Everything has changed." He said in a raspy whisper, his grey eyes piercing hers, before he quickly stood and apparated from the room.


	12. Change

**Mature readers only for this chapter please - read at your own peril. I will put a short (lemon free) summary at the bottom so that anyone who doesn't want to read it (or shouldn't be) won't miss out on the plot.**

**Beta'd by the wondrous Mari681. **

* * *

Hermione could have sat there in shock, letting the seconds turn to minutes and time blur by. Another woman might have left right then and there, never coming back, might have sat and contemplated his words and actions at length, but not Miss Granger.

_"Everything has changed"_ Lucius had said and for Hermione, everything had finally clicked into place. She had changed, he had changed, the wizarding world had changed, and if Lucius Malfoy was what she wanted, then that was what would happen, the consequences be damned.

She didn't know where he'd apparated away to, but did know she wanted to find him as quickly as possible. Striding quickly from the library, she heard a loud thud, then what sounded like shattering stone, from above her. She took the stairs two at a time and ran along the corridor towards the noise, stopping when it reached its loudest outside a pair of large black wooden doors.

Not hesitating, or even knocking, she flung open the door. The room was strewn with smashed statues, burnt paintings and worst of all, in Hermione's opinion, books with significantly less pages than they should have. If it were any other day - and if she had any other goal in mind - she would have said something about mistreating books. Instead, she walked straight towards where Lucius sat, head in hands, on the end of his bed. He looked up as she approached, almost flinching in anticipation of what he most likely assumed as imminent rejection or retribution for his actions.

Hermione surprised even herself, as she lifted up his chin to look her in the eyes and climbed into his lap, her knees either side of his hips, and hovered her lips over his as he had done to her mere minutes ago.

"Yes, Lucius, everything has changed." She whispered before closing the distance between their lips, returning the kiss he hadn't give her the chance to earlier.

Lucius' hands immediately came to rest on her hips and he kissed her back fiercely, eliciting a low moan of approval from Hermione. His tongue ran along her lip, begging for entry, which she gladly gave it, then started to fight for dominance with her own. She intertwined her hands in his hair and pulled him even closer, rocking her hips slightly as she did. The guttural sound that came from Lucius sent shivers up her spine, and his grip on her turned bruising hard as he bucked up into her. Suddenly he was lifting her, her legs wrapped tightly around his back, as he carried her round the bed and placed her surprisingly carefully on the sheets. He climbed on top of her, his long hair tickling her chest, as he looked into her eyes.

"Hermione." He said, his voice strained and gravelly.

"Lucius." She replied huskily, a single tear running down her cheek.

Shock suddenly registered on his face, and he made to move off her, but she stopped him with a soft touch to his cheek.

"You're crying Hermione, is this not what you want? I thought-"

She cut him off in the only way she could, with a kiss, abruptly stopping his worried rambling. She almost giggled to see Lucius like this, so nervous and unsure of himself, so very different from the strong, controlled person he always appeared to be.

"I am crying because I am happy, you fool." She told him in a silvery tone, resting her forehead against his.

"So you do want this? Me?" He asked apprehensively.

"More than I have ever wanted anything."

The smile that appeared on Lucius' face was so big that Hermione was sure it would have even made Voldemort happy to see. She didn't realise until she said the words how true they were, but she didn't have long to think on it as Lucius' mouth had descended on hers once again and her ability to think clearly was severely diminished.

She ran her hands down his chest and slowly began to undo the buttons of his shirt. Once all were undone he sat up to remove it and Hermione almost groaned at the loss of contact. She reached for the hem of her dress to take it off as well but he stopped her, his hands clasped around her own on her thighs as she looked at him questioningly.

"You wouldn't deprive me the opportunity to undress you myself now, would you Hermione?" He teased in his formal tone, his hands lazily making their way up her legs.

He hooked his long fingers into the top of her underwear, flicking his thumb deliberately over her clit, and pulled them down. The corner of his lips turned up in a satisfied smile as her hips jerked towards him, and he could not contain the low chuckle that escaped him when he saw her lace knickers where dark green, topped with a silver bow.

"These don't strike me as your favourite colours." He quipped, noticing the slight blush on her cheeks.

"I've become rather fond of them recently..." She admitted, causing his smile to widen. "They remind me of Christmas." She slyly added.

"Well I think from now on they will remind me of something entirely different." He purred as he tucked them into his pocket, his eyes darkening to a stormy grey.

He leant over her again and started to kiss down her neck, his tongue flicking out to taste her, and his teeth lightly grazing her skin. He was slowly working her into a frenzy with his teasing touches, never giving her the friction she so desperately craved. His hand went to her back, undoing the zip on her dress excruciatingly slowly, then pulling it from her body, kissing her newly exposed flesh as he did.

He kissed the inside of her thighs, and she whimpered as his breath ghosted over her core before returning to capture her lips once more. Lucius made her feel like she never thought she could, as she had never felt before. Her body was on fire, the ache between her legs evident from the wetness dripping down her thighs.

She had only ever been with two men before this and even the better of them couldn't compare to Lucius, and he'd barely touched her yet. Her first had always been special, Victor Krum, at the end of her sixth year. It was fuelled by lust still lingering from his visit to Hogwarts years before, but he was a caring and generous lover, and Hermione was happy it had been with him. Ron however, who still believed himself to be her first, was sloppy and only cared for his own needs and desires, taking no consideration for hers.

Her thoughts of Ron - and Victor - were quickly gone, along with her bra, as Lucius chuckled, removing the green matching set to her pants. With a flick of his hand his trousers were gone too, leaving his erection pressing up against his black silk boxers. He rubbed himself over her, both groaning at the contact but then again he held himself away, seemingly with great difficulty, as she tried to buck against him again.

He took one of her nipples into his mouth, his tongue lavishing the already hard bud, his fingers the other. He was torturing her with his touches, or lack of them, as he worshipped her breasts - until she could take it no longer.

"Please, Lucius." She rasped.

He lightly bit down on her nipple causing her to cry out in pleasure. "Please what?" He murmured against her breast as he soothed her with his tongue.

"Please Lucius, touch me."

He pressed his hard cock, still clad in its' silken confines, against her again and rolled his hips "Like this?" He asked, trying to sound innocent, but failing as it instead came out as a throaty moan. He was finally beginning to lose his control and Hermione revelled in the groan that escaped his lips when she rocked her hips back into his. He removed his throbbing cock from her and replaced it with his fingers, slowly parting her slick folds and stroking her with a feather light touch. She had never felt anything so perfect and she pushed up into his hand and felt him smile against her breast.

He slipped two fingers inside of her causing her breath the hitch. "So wet for me, my witch." He murmured almost incoherently as he began to work his fingers inside her. He slowly pumped them within her, his thumb firmly pressed against her clit. Her head fell back against the pillows and her chest heaved as she writhed beneath him, his movements slowly working her towards orgasm. "Take me Lucius." She practically begged before he could, she wanted him to be inside her when she came.

He let out a shaky breath and removed his fingers from her, only to bring them up to his mouth, licked off her musky wetness, closing his eyes as he savoured the taste, smiling when he heard Hermione's throaty sound of approval.

He vanished his boxers and his, not surprisingly, significantly large cock sprang free. He carefully positioned it over her entrance and looked into her eyes.

"Hermione." He said almost as a question, his fear that this was not what she wanted still evident, somehow still doubting that she could want him.

"Lucius." She breathed out with a smile and it was all the confirmation he needed. He pushed into her, both sighing with relief at finally being joined. She had never felt so perfectly stretched and full, it was like they had been made to fit together. He stayed still for a few seconds while she adjusted to his size but finally started to move as she rolled her hips against him. She locked her ankles around his waist, her hands gripping his shoulders, as she met him thrust for thrust.

At first he kept a calm, slow pace but as her nails dug into him and she pressed him further into her he couldn't keep it up for long. He changed his angle and he began to hit the spot deep inside her with made her cry out his name. He growled against her neck and increased his pace, now rubbing against her clit with every stroke. The combined pleasure was intoxicating and she could feel her walls begin to flutter around him as his hips began to lose their rhythm.

"Come for me, witch." He all but growled through his rasping breaths.

He started to pound into her with abandon, the sensation he was creating within her overwhelming, and she came harder than she had ever before. Her cunt throbbed around him and his cries of pleasure soon joined her own as he spilled within her, her name on his lips.

* * *

They clung to each other, their sweat sheened bodies sticking together, as they both regained their breath. Once they had recovered he pulled out of her, both making a sound of protest at no longer being connected. Not wanting to lose the contact with her, he pulled her tightly to him as he kissed the back of her neck. A low, satisfied hum came from her as she pulled his arm against her and pressed herself closer.

Lucius didn't think he had ever been happier than he was right now. Not even when Draco had been born, or when Voldemort finally died. He had Hermione, his Hermione, tightly in his arms. But he was scared that if he let her go, she'd be gone forever.

After a couple of minutes, or was it hours, she broke the silence.

"Lucius, are you awake?" She asked.

"Mhmm?" He answered sleepily.

She hesitated, and the room fell silent once more, causing panic to quickly spread through him. Was this it? Would she tell him that it had all been a mistake? That she was going to leave? He didn't think he could bare it. Over these last few weeks she had become everything to him, and to have it all be over just like that would surely break him.

"Don't leave me." She breathed out in a shaky whisper, stealing the words that were on his lips.

"Never." He promised, pulling her impossibly tighter against him. "Never."

* * *

**PG Summary:**

Hermione decides that she wants to be with Lucius and doesn't care about what he's done or what her friends would think any more.

She goes after him and finds him very forlorn in his room, having destroyed many of his possessions in his fear of rejection.

She confirms her feelings for him by responding to his _"Everyhting has changed"_ with _"Yes, Lucius, everything has changed"_ and kisses him etc. etc.

After, when they are lying together in his bed, Lucius still fears she will reject him and leave.

She dismisses these fears by asking what he so desperately wanted to ask her _"Don't leave me."_

_"Never." He promised, pulling her impossibly tighter against him. "Never."_


End file.
